Why christians and musIims shouldn't and can't be celebrating Pongal?
Short answer: Pongal is strictly a Hindu festival. In other states, it is known as Makara Sankranti, Lohri, etc among Hindu communities in other states.
Long answer: read the thread
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Short answer: Pongal is strictly a Hindu festival. In other states, it is known as Makara Sankranti, Lohri, etc among Hindu communities in other states.
Long answer: read the thread
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Pongal is generally a multi-day festival. Contrary to popular dumeelian understanding, Pongal is neither a special Tamil festival nor the real Tamil New Year as Mr Arulchelvan tried to justify back some time ago.
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The day before the main Pongal day is known as BHOGI. BHOGI itself is a Sanskrit word derived from 'bhoga', which means enjoyment. The one who enjoys is called Bhogi. The Lord remains an enjoyer while we, jivas are the enjoyed.
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This is exactly what Andal showed by leading us as an example. She observed the Dhanurmasa vrata and reunited with Lord Ranganatha on the last day of Margazhi, the day of Bhogi.
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On Bhogi, a popular activity is lighting a bonfire early in the morning. The bonfire offers warmth in the cool and chilly morning weather. Fire also burns away anything that we put in. On Bhogi, the fire is light to signify burning our sorrows, materialistic desires,
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ignorance and anything that stops us from attaining the Lord. At the same time, damaged goods are disposed today. Many burn old clothes and synthetic items or plastic objects on this day. Burning plastic emits harmful chemicals that will harm our health and the environment.
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We should do our best not to harm the environment due to our wrong apprehension of activities that hold spiritual and practical significance in our lives.
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The next day is the main Surya Pongal event. Pongal is in fact, Makara Sankranti(MS) or the transit of Surya(Sun) into Makara(Capricorn) rashi. Pongal cannot automatically be converted into a special Tamil holiday simply because Tamils call the day as Pongal instead of MS.
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The term Pongal itself is derived from the Pongal dish. @jayasartn explains it in detail in her blogspot.
She and other scholars also explain that Pongal was never a secular festival only celebrated by Tamils.
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She and other scholars also explain that Pongal was never a secular festival only celebrated by Tamils.
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On Surya Pongal, sweet pongal is prepared along with other festivities and is first offered to Suryanarayana as today, he steps into Makara Rashi. Makara Sankranti is also celebrated as Uttarayana Sankranti. The details of it can be read in jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com
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We offer freshly cooked pongal to the antaryami of Surya as we must always offer the Lord before we enjoy something, including food. Offered food becomes sanctified and it is known as Prasadam. Prasadam is food for our soul.
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The Sun God, Lord Suryanarayana is the object of worship on Pongal. The Sun sustains us throughout the year and we thank Him on this day. The Sun is vital for growing crops and harvest occurs during this time. Do xtians and musIims worship the Sun like Hindus do?
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The following day, we have Maattu Pongal and Kanu. Kanu is a celebration of brother-sister relationship. Even the Thaayar of Thirukkudanthai along with other Thaayars perform Kanu. As for maattu pongal, gau-puja is done like the gopas and gopikas during Krishna's times.
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Jallikattu also takes place on Mattu Pongal day. Jallikattu specifically has a strong connection with Lord Krishna's pastimes.
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In Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna tamed the bulls of King Nagnajit of Kosala and married his daughter as was promised. In Harivamsa, Kumbhaka, the brother of Yasoda offers to get his enchantingly beautiful daughter, Nila married to any deserving man who subdues
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the 7 ferocious bulls in the kingdom he resides and as we all guessed, the mighty hero, our Lord Krishna conquered them and won his maternal uncle's daughter. This story matches with Azhwars' retelling of Nappinnai charitram.
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This shows that even jallikattu is a Hindu tradition as shown by the aforementioned examples.
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The last day is celebrated as Kaanum Pongal. On this day, people visit their families and relatives. Many also visit the river Kaveri and offer prayers to her.
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Now, we understand that Pongal involves worshipping Surya, cattle and the river. All the rituals are also religious Hindu traditions. For xtians and muslims, celebrating Pongal, a Hindu festival is polytheism and appropriating it is heresy.
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Pongal was never a secular festival. Like I said earlier, it is not specifically a Tamil-community -only celebration. The only reason why Tamils celebrate it is because Tamils were all Hindus before conversions happened.
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Non-Hindu Tamils yearn to celebrare Pongal by calling it a secular festival because they couldn't leave their Hindu past. Mr Arulchelvan on the other hand tried to convert Pongal into a secular festival because of politics, to gain votes from the non-Hindu Tamils.
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By calling Pongal a non-religious festival, you are reducing Tamils to hedonistic people with no higher goals in life i.e. attaining moksha, instilling devotion, etc. On top of that, 1st 3 days of Thai are known as kari naal where materialistic jobs shouldn't be undertaken.
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So, pongal can't be non-religious. To maintain the significance and purity of the festival,we shouldn't change them.If we alter the festivals to suit our own selfish agendas, the true spirit of the festivals will be gone. Pongal is no more Pongal without Surya & worship. 23/n
Xtians and mus|ims don't protect cows. Instead, they slaughter and eat their flesh. The whole purpose of celebrating Mattu Pongal is gone as one can't be worshipping the gau one day and kill and eat it the next day.
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Anyway, to wrap up this thread,Pongal is not just a mundane harvest fest but a Hindu festival which is celebrated by Hindu Tamils just like Hindus in other states.Certain traditions may differ due to regional influences but the fundementals of the festival remains the same.
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If you're all wondering who this Mr Arulchelvan is? It's karunanidhi. Just gave his name a Tamil twist.
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