Over thousands of Tamilians gathered on 90 Feet Road in Dharavi on Saturday morning before sunrise to celebrate the festival of Pongal. Dharavi has a major Tamil population and the residents gather on a street every year to celebrate the festival together.
Over thousands of Tamilians gathered on 90 Feet Road in Dharavi on Saturday morning before sunrise to celebrate the festival of Pongal. Dharavi has a major Tamil population and the residents gather on a street every year to celebrate the festival together.
The event is organised by the Hindu Yuva Sena (HYS) and the Dharma Jakran Samanvai Samiti (DKSS).
While the married women and girls wear traditional south Indian sarees, the boys wear lungi and gather before the sunrise.
The celebration starts by boiling rice in a pot which is then offered to the Sun God (Surya) as a thanksgiving. Every year, on the day of Pongal, the entire stretch of 90 Feet Road near Dharavi Police Station is not only filled with Tamilians who come to perform the rituals but also by the other residents who come to see the celebrations.
“We start gathering for the festival from 5 am depending upon the timing of sunrise. We are given all the necessary materials to perform the rituals. I have been coming here to celebrate since four years with my family,” said Kavya S, a resident.
While most of the Tamilians in the city celebrate the festival for one day by performing these rituals, the actually festival is four days long and is known as 'Pongal Thiruvizah' which is a rural festival. The name of the festival is derived from “Pongal”— a rice pudding made from freshly harvested rice, milk and jaggery with cashew nuts added to it.
“We boil the rice and milk in a pot and a turmeric plant is tied around it. As the rice boils and the water gets spill out of the pot, we shout ‘pongalo pongal’ It is then symbolically offered to the Sun God along with other oblations. The offerings include two sticks of sugarcane in the background, coconut betel leaves, nuts and bananas in the dish,” said Smurti Nadar, 30, resident of Dharavi.
Many people also wear new clothes and women decorate houses with 'kolam' (designs) using rice flour and red clay.
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 "Pongal in Dharavi")
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