Isha Yoga Center organizes Pongal celebrations
Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore
This year, Pongal – the festival of Tamil Nadu- will be celebrated in collaborating with Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. This year’s festivities will take place on the centre’s premises in Coimbatore from 3pm to 6pm on 16th January 2018.
“People from across the world with distinct culture and religion will join the Pongal celebrations that will include Pongal pots, sugarcane, rangoli and traditional games,” stated a release from the Yoga center.
On the occasion of Mattu Pongal, 15 varieties of native cattle breeds like Kankarej, Kangayam, Sahiwal, Gir and others will be exhibited to depict the importance of cattle in Tamil culture.
Cultural programs from Thappatam team, Dharapuram, Isha Home Schoo , Isha Samskriti and Sounds of Isha will also be arranged to entertain the spectators. Prasadam will be distributed to all the visitors at the end of this celebration.
Girls preparing ‘pongal’ in the traditional way
Pongal is one of the most popular harvest festivals of South India, mainly of Tamil Nadu. Pongal falls in the mid-January every year and marks the auspicious beginning of Uttarayan – sun’s journey northwards. Pongal festival lasts for four days. This four day long festival of Tamil Nadu is celebrated for showing gratitude to the nature.
The literal meaning of Pongal is “spilling over” and it had been named so, because of the tradition of boiling rice in a pot till it starts overflowing. Other traditions of the celebration include drawing of Kolam, swinging and cooking of delicious Pongal.