Pongal 2023: All you need to know about the four-day harvest festival

Pongal is a major festival of South India, which is related to the harvesting of crops and is dedicated to Lord Surya Narayan, the king of the planets. Whereas in northern India it is celebrated as Makar Sankranti. The festival of Pongal is celebrated with great pomp and enthusiasm on all four days. Especially in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Sri Lanka, it is celebrated on a large scale. On this day, people worship and thank the Sun for the good yield and yield of agriculture.

Pongal 2023: Date

In the new year 2023, the festival of Pongal will be celebrated on 15 January. The festival will start on January 15 and will end on January 18, 2023. It is a tradition to celebrate it as a four-day festival with pomp for the whole four days.

Pongal 2023: Significance

The festival of Pongal is mainly dedicated to agriculture and Surya Narayan. Every day of this festival which lasts for four days is important. This period is known as Uttarayan Punyakalam and is considered very auspicious. It is believed that during this period the gods woke up after sleeping for six months. After this festival, the sun moves towards the north for 6 months. In Hinduism, these 6 months are considered auspicious for all works and auspicious works are organized during this time.

Types of Pongal festival and date

Bhogi Pongal- The first day of Pongal is called Bhogi Pongal. It starts from the last day of the Magarji month of the Tamil calendar. In Tamil, it is also called 'Pazhayana Kazithalum Puthiana Pugudhalum'. There is the importance of worshipping Lord Indra, especially on this day. On this day, people worship Lord Indra and wish for sufficient rains for good crops.

Thai Pongal- This is the second day of Pongal. Surya Narayan is worshipped on this day. This day of Pongal, which lasts for four days, is the most important. On this day people traditionally make Rangoli with at the entrance of the house with white lime. Many programs are also organized and dishes are also prepared.

Mattu Pongal- This is the third day of the Pongal festival. On this day people worship the animals used in agriculture. People worship their animals by decorating them with bells, heaps of corn and garlands.

Kanum Pongal- Kanum Pongal is the fourth and last day of the Pongal festival. On this day also people make Rangoli after cleaning the house and decorating the house. There is a meeting with relatives and gifts are also given.

Story of Pongal festival

According to the legend associated with the Pongal festival, once Lord Shiva sent his bull named Biswa to the earth with a special message. In this message, Shiv ji said that tell all the earthlings to take food daily only after taking bath. Biswa bull reached the earth with this message, but he gave the wrong message to the people of the earth. As a message, he told the people of the earth to eat only one day in a month. When Shivji came to know about this, he got angry with Biswa. Shivji asked Biswa to stay on earth and ordered them to help people in agriculture. Then with the help of Biswa bull there was a good yield and in this happiness the tradition of celebrating Pongal festival started.