Tomorrow (Monday, January 15) is the first day of the three day Pongal festival, the most important festival in Tamil Nadu.
Pongal (பொங்கல்) holds a special significance for me as I was born on the first day of Pongal, on the first day of the Tamil month Thai (தை), which falls on January 15 this year (In 1973, Pongal was on January 14).
As a kid it used to give me a thrill that my birthday was being celebrated by everyone (and it was a school holiday). Age has cured me (?) of such delusions.
The picture above, a joint venture by me and my daughter (for a school project of hers that allowed parental help), depicts a typical Pongal scene. Items to note are the decorated pot (பொங்கல் பானை) on a traditional wood-burning mud stove with rice water boiling over, the sugarcanes and turmeric (கரும்பு, மஞ்சள்), the banana leaf with offerings of bananas and coconut, incense sticks (ஊதுபத்தி) in their little stand, the traditional metal lamp (குத்துவிளக்கு, kutthuvizakku), the kolam (கோலம்) in front of the door and the decorated bull with painted horns and of course the green fields and the bright sun.
இனிய பொங்கல் வாழ்துக்கள்
A happy Pongal and prosperous New Year to you too!
What a talented family you guys are!
Neat picture.
Do I detect more than one medium?
later…
Thanks TJ,
It’s just colouring pencils (wax) on ordinary paper. There are two overlapping coats of colour, since my daughter had a go first, and I had to do the finishing touches.