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Mattu Pongal and Legend Behind this Festival
The Legend behind Mattu Pongal:
The legend says that lord Shiva asked his bull, Basava, to go to the earth and ask the mortals to have an oil massage and bath every day and to eat food only once a month. By mistake Basava announced that everyone should eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This unintentional folly enraged Shiva who then cursed Basava, banishing him to live on the earth forever. He would have to plough the fields and help people produce more food. Thus this day is associated with cattle.
Mattu Pongal celebration:
The cows and bulls are scrubbed clean and their horns painted in myriad colours and the cattle adorned with colourful flowers around their necks and a paste of turmeric applied on their foreheads with a round spot of kumkum in the centre. The pointed horns of the bulls are covered with special ornamental brass covers with a colourful tassles at the end. Their necks are smeared with turmeric and sandal pastes and then decorated with multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaf's of corn and flower garlands.The cattle are usually gathered at the riverside and a community 'pongal' is cooked at the banks of the river (in some cases it is done at their own backyard).
Everyone joins in the community meal, for which the food is made of the freshly harvested grain. The cattle is fed this Pongal along with fresh green grass. Usually the men do this ritual. The bulls are then taken to the village centers. Boys and small girls also accompany them to watch the ceremony.The ringing of their bells, as the young men race each other's cattle ,draws the attention of the villagers. The entire atmosphere becomes festive with fun and revelry all around.
In the first half of the Mattu Pongal day, bulls are pampered and fed but strangely in the latter part of the day they are used as objects of fun for the village youth and literally "torchered" in the guise of a popular sport. An important village sport, called the jallikattu or manji virattu ,is an integral part of the Pongal festival and is generally held in the evening of the Mattu Pongal day. It is observed with great enthusiasm.
There is normally a big hullabaloo when the game “jallikattu"(taming the bull) and "manji virattu"( chasing the bull) starts in which groups of young men chase the running bulls. In manji virattu, bundles of money and bags of coins are tied to the sharpened horns of ferocious bulls that are let loose in an open ground. The young men of the village vie with each other to subdue the bull and grab the bags tied to the horns.The tradition of jallikattu dates back to the Sangam age. There is a mentioning of jallikattu in the Sangam classic Purananooru, which talks about how men had to subdue the bull in order to win the hand of a fair maiden. There is also a story of how even lord Krishna is believed to have defeated seven bulls before marrying Nappinnai. This festival is very popular especially in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tanjavur. Unlike in the Spanish bullfights, in manji-virattu, the bull is never killed. But many young men and spectators get bruised and have broken their bones after the event. Deaths are also occasionally reported during jallikattu.
Over the years this sport has become much more bloodier than the traditional jallikattu observed 500 years ago. The animal right activists have been fighting against jallikattu and the Supreme Court of India in January 2008 has banned jallikattu, but the age-old tradition still continues in many rural parts of Tamil Nadu. It is now held as a regular bull fight sports in demarcated rings in villages where the bull owners and the young men fighting the bulls vie for the prizes.
Kanu Pandigai: Mattu Pongal for many communities of Tamil Nadu is also a very special day, especially for the ladies and young girls who pray for the welfare of their brothers.It is also known as Kanu.This festival is reminiscent of Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Duja of north India. Early in the morning, the eldest lady in the house applies raw tumeric paste on the face of all the young girls in the house. After this oil is applied to their hair.
Then all the girls and ladies offer rice balls (small lemon sized balls) topped with pieces of turmeric, coconut and jaggery to the crows. In an open place a kolam is drawn directed towards the east and turmeric leaves are placed over the kolam. . It is usually next to the Tulsi altar in the courtyard or in the open terrace. On this leaf are placed the leftovers of sweet pongal and the salty pongal called ven pongal (made on the Perum Pongal day), ordinary white rice as well as rice colored red(with kumkum) and yellow (with tumeric), betel leaves, betel nuts, pieces of sugarcane, and a couple of small bananas. On this also reposes an oil lamp (dia/vallaku).
In Tamil Nadu women perform this ritual before bathing in the morning. The following phrase is repeated while placing the coloured rice on the leaves “Kakka podi vechen, Kanu podi vechen, kakkaikkum kurivikkum kalyanam,” which could be roughly translated as, “I offer, Kakka podi and Kanu podi, it is the marriage of the crow and the sparrow.” This literal translation sounds a little absurd, so it is quite possible that these words imply the welfare of the crow and sparrow, as "kalyanam" also means "welfare". After chanting this a coconut is broken. This ritual of kakkai chatham (rice for the crow) is not necessarily only a Pongal tradition.
Many south Indians take the first bit of rice cooked in any given day and set it outside for the crows to take. Feeding the crows is akin to feeding departed souls, as crows represent ancestors. Feeding the crows once a year is believed to be sufficient as a year in our human world is akin to one day in the life of a departed person.Arati is later performed for brothers with turmeric water, limestone and rice, and this water is sprinkled on the rangoli/kolam in front of the house. Sisters apply a tilak/kumkum on the foreheads of their brothers, and give them fruit, sweets, sesame seed and jaggery. The brothers thank their sisters for their good wishes and give them money and gifts.
Indian Festivals and Hindu Mythology
The Legend behind Mattu Pongal:
The legend says that lord Shiva asked his bull, Basava, to go to the earth and ask the mortals to have an oil massage and bath every day and to eat food only once a month. By mistake Basava announced that everyone should eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This unintentional folly enraged Shiva who then cursed Basava, banishing him to live on the earth forever. He would have to plough the fields and help people produce more food. Thus this day is associated with cattle.
Mattu Pongal celebration:
The cows and bulls are scrubbed clean and their horns painted in myriad colours and the cattle adorned with colourful flowers around their necks and a paste of turmeric applied on their foreheads with a round spot of kumkum in the centre. The pointed horns of the bulls are covered with special ornamental brass covers with a colourful tassles at the end. Their necks are smeared with turmeric and sandal pastes and then decorated with multi-colored beads, tinkling bells, sheaf's of corn and flower garlands.The cattle are usually gathered at the riverside and a community 'pongal' is cooked at the banks of the river (in some cases it is done at their own backyard).
Everyone joins in the community meal, for which the food is made of the freshly harvested grain. The cattle is fed this Pongal along with fresh green grass. Usually the men do this ritual. The bulls are then taken to the village centers. Boys and small girls also accompany them to watch the ceremony.The ringing of their bells, as the young men race each other's cattle ,draws the attention of the villagers. The entire atmosphere becomes festive with fun and revelry all around.
In the first half of the Mattu Pongal day, bulls are pampered and fed but strangely in the latter part of the day they are used as objects of fun for the village youth and literally "torchered" in the guise of a popular sport. An important village sport, called the jallikattu or manji virattu ,is an integral part of the Pongal festival and is generally held in the evening of the Mattu Pongal day. It is observed with great enthusiasm.
There is normally a big hullabaloo when the game “jallikattu"(taming the bull) and "manji virattu"( chasing the bull) starts in which groups of young men chase the running bulls. In manji virattu, bundles of money and bags of coins are tied to the sharpened horns of ferocious bulls that are let loose in an open ground. The young men of the village vie with each other to subdue the bull and grab the bags tied to the horns.The tradition of jallikattu dates back to the Sangam age. There is a mentioning of jallikattu in the Sangam classic Purananooru, which talks about how men had to subdue the bull in order to win the hand of a fair maiden. There is also a story of how even lord Krishna is believed to have defeated seven bulls before marrying Nappinnai. This festival is very popular especially in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tanjavur. Unlike in the Spanish bullfights, in manji-virattu, the bull is never killed. But many young men and spectators get bruised and have broken their bones after the event. Deaths are also occasionally reported during jallikattu.
Over the years this sport has become much more bloodier than the traditional jallikattu observed 500 years ago. The animal right activists have been fighting against jallikattu and the Supreme Court of India in January 2008 has banned jallikattu, but the age-old tradition still continues in many rural parts of Tamil Nadu. It is now held as a regular bull fight sports in demarcated rings in villages where the bull owners and the young men fighting the bulls vie for the prizes.
Kanu Pandigai: Mattu Pongal for many communities of Tamil Nadu is also a very special day, especially for the ladies and young girls who pray for the welfare of their brothers.It is also known as Kanu.This festival is reminiscent of Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Duja of north India. Early in the morning, the eldest lady in the house applies raw tumeric paste on the face of all the young girls in the house. After this oil is applied to their hair.
Then all the girls and ladies offer rice balls (small lemon sized balls) topped with pieces of turmeric, coconut and jaggery to the crows. In an open place a kolam is drawn directed towards the east and turmeric leaves are placed over the kolam. . It is usually next to the Tulsi altar in the courtyard or in the open terrace. On this leaf are placed the leftovers of sweet pongal and the salty pongal called ven pongal (made on the Perum Pongal day), ordinary white rice as well as rice colored red(with kumkum) and yellow (with tumeric), betel leaves, betel nuts, pieces of sugarcane, and a couple of small bananas. On this also reposes an oil lamp (dia/vallaku).
In Tamil Nadu women perform this ritual before bathing in the morning. The following phrase is repeated while placing the coloured rice on the leaves “Kakka podi vechen, Kanu podi vechen, kakkaikkum kurivikkum kalyanam,” which could be roughly translated as, “I offer, Kakka podi and Kanu podi, it is the marriage of the crow and the sparrow.” This literal translation sounds a little absurd, so it is quite possible that these words imply the welfare of the crow and sparrow, as "kalyanam" also means "welfare". After chanting this a coconut is broken. This ritual of kakkai chatham (rice for the crow) is not necessarily only a Pongal tradition.
Many south Indians take the first bit of rice cooked in any given day and set it outside for the crows to take. Feeding the crows is akin to feeding departed souls, as crows represent ancestors. Feeding the crows once a year is believed to be sufficient as a year in our human world is akin to one day in the life of a departed person.Arati is later performed for brothers with turmeric water, limestone and rice, and this water is sprinkled on the rangoli/kolam in front of the house. Sisters apply a tilak/kumkum on the foreheads of their brothers, and give them fruit, sweets, sesame seed and jaggery. The brothers thank their sisters for their good wishes and give them money and gifts.
Indian Festivals and Hindu Mythology
