The festival of Pongal will be celebrated on january 15 by the citys Tamil community where more than 1000 women will gather at 90ft road at Dharavi early morning to make the traiditional Pongal rice. The festival is celebrated for a good harvest and expressing gratitude to the Sun god as it marks the beginning of Uttarayan.
The festival of Pongal will be celebrated on january 15 by the citys Tamil community where more than 1000 women will gather at 90ft road at Dharavi early morning to make the traiditional Pongal rice. The festival is celebrated for a good harvest and expressing gratitude to the Sun god as it marks the beginning of Uttarayan.
Before sunrise, women celebrating the festival will assemble at Dharavi and make Pongal with the first rice of the first harvest along with milk, sugarcane and jaggery. The community buys a new earthen pot on this day and makes the rice in it besides making Kolam (rangoli). As soon as the milk in the pot overflows, everyone shouts 'Pongalo Pongal' in unison as the first rays of the sun are visible. Mr. Bhagyanathan is one of the organisers of the event and has an electronic shop at 90ft road. “this celebration has been happening on a grand scale for more than 6 years. We have a tamil cable channel called JPR where we show the Pongal festivities of Dharavi from Sion to Colaba. The cooking begins around 6 a.m,” he said.
76-year-old Sion resident Meena Venkateswara celebrates Pongal at home by cooking the rice on her stove and offering prayers at her house. One of the main organisers of the Dharavi festivities, Nambiraja Annadurai said that the celebrations have been in existence even before independence. Continuing the legacy of his grandfather, he will participate this year as well. “In mumbai, approximately 15 lakh tamil people will take part in community cooking. Chembur, Matunga, Sion, Antop hill and Vashi will witness early morning prayers. Building societies will keep it in their premises in the city. On jan 13, SIES college students celebrated pongal in their college premises and many tamil trusts will celebrate it in their locality,” he said. He added that on this day they buy new dresses for the family and even for the members who have passed away and place their favourite items before their photos.
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