What Is Pongal And How Is It Celebrated In Malaysia

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File photo of a woman preparing sarkarai pongal — rice boiled in milk with jaggery — during the Pongal celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 15, 2023. — Picture by Shafwan ZaidonKUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Come January 14, the Tamil community will ring in Pongal, an annual harvest festival celebrated with traditional fervour and flavours.
The four-day-long festival marks the start of the Thai month — the tenth month in the Tamil calendar — and coincides with the Sun’s northwards movement for the next six months.
This is also when the harvest season in the southern region of India — particularly in Tamil Nadu — begins.
As such, Tamil community regards the Thai month as the harbinger of new opportunities since Tamil Nadu was once an agrarian economy.
Traditionally, the celebration starts on the eve of Pongal with the Bhogi festival — dedicated to the rain god Indra — where old and unused items in households are discarded in a bonfire. But, the ritual is not widely practiced in Malaysia.
However, the Melaka Chetti community observe the Parchu Bhogi by preparing a feast to honour their deceased ancestors on the eve of Pongal.
The feast include dishes such as nasi lemak kukus, kuih kanda kasturi, sambal belacan, long beans, cucumber with coconut sambal, herring roe with starfruit sambal, cucumber with chilli and vinegar, spiced cabbage and fried mutton — and placed on a banana leaf.
The Melaka Chetti community are descendants of Indian traders who arrived from the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu to Melaka in the 15th century. The community are primarily Hindus but their mother tongue is Malay.

A woman places a flower garland and dhoti around a cow’s neck during Maatu Pongal celebrations at Sri Thandayuthapani Temple along Jalan Ipoh on January 16, 2024. — Picture by Raymond Manuel
On Pongal day, rice is cooked with milk and jaggery in a claypot decorated with turmeric plant and flanked by sugarcanes, using firewood in the front yard.
While some households in Malaysia still prefer this traditional setting, many households cook the dish on gas stoves in their kitchens.
The sweet rice resulting from this process is called sarkarai pongal, which is derived from the Tamil word ‘pongu’ that means ‘to boil and overflow’.
So, when the contents in the pot boils over and spills, people gather around and say “Pongalo Pongal” aloud to welcome prosperity and good fortune.
The sweet rice is then offered to the Sun God (Surya Bhagavan) as a thanksgiving for the good harvest and hence, the first day is known as Surya Pongal.
The second day is known as Maatu Pongal. Cows and bulls are considered sacred creatures in the Hindu culture and on this day, they are revered for their contributions to agriculture.
The occasion starts with bathing the cows and bulls, decorating them with sandal paste and vermilion before adorning garlands and dhotis around their necks.

Sri Thandayuthapani Temple chief priest Manimanan Muniandy (centre) cooks the pongal dish during Maatu Pongal celebrations at the temple’s cowshed on January 16, 2024. — Picture by Raymond Manuel
The milk is boiled to prepare a feast for the animals. In Malaysia, Maatu Pongal is celebrated in several temples that still maintain cowsheds, such as at the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple along Jalan Ipoh.
In Tamil Nadu, the bull-taming sport or jallikattu, is also organised in the rural parts of the state on this day for Indian men to demonstrate their courage.
The final day is known as Kaanum Pongal. In Tamil, the word “kaanum” means viewing and as such, friends and families meet and get together for a meal on this day. Unmarried girls (kanni) seeking good marriage prospects also observe Kanni Pongal on the final day by cooking and offering pongal at temples. .
However, in Malaysia, only Surya Pongal is typically celebrated by households and temples, marking a sweet start to the new year. - malaymail

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