Happy Mattu Pongal

The best wishes for the Pongal festival have already started pouring in. The festival brings the entire family together. While everyone is busy prepping for the festival, all the family members gather to thank God for providing them with all the blessings. While it is the first day, it will be followed by Mattu Pongal. It is celebrated on the third day of the Pongal festival and the celebration mark the beginning of that time of the year when fresh harvesting of rice starts.

Know its origin and why Mattu Pongal is celebrated.

Origin of Mattu Pongal

According to legends one day Lord Shiva asked his bull Nandi to visit Earth and tell humans to eat once in a month and take oil massage and bath every day. In its place of saying this, he told the mortals to take bath with oil once a month and eat daily. This infuriated Lord Shiva and he asked the bull to stay on Earth itself and plough fields to help people grow more food so that they can eat food every day.

How is Mattu Pongal celebrated

On this auspicious day, cattle are washed and their horns are coloured. Their horns are covered in metallic caps too and their necks are beautified with beads, bells, garlands, sheaves of corn. On Mattu Pongal people carry out aartis after which they touch the feet and head of the decorated bull to take the blessings. After that, the bull is offered the prasad. It’s a feast for the cattle on this day; they are not even taken out for any work. People also make rangolis with flour or coloured chalk powders in or outside their houses.

Basically, Pongal means rice. So it is placed on the rangoli aka kolam which is created by the observers of the festival. Other than rice, other offerings are also given to cattle such as sugarcane, turmeric, ginger, etc.