Pongal is a popular harvest festival celebrated in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The festival of Pongal usually takes place over four days in mid-January, marking the beginning of the Tamil month of Thai. This year, Pongal 2024 will be celebrated from January 15 to January 18. As per tradition, the festival marks the end of the winter solstice and the start of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards when the sun enters the Capricorn, also called Uttarayana. Pongal is a four-day annual festival, and the most important day of Pongal is known as Thai Pongal. Thai Pongal, which is the second day of the four-day festivity, is also celebrated as Sankranti. The same day is observed as Makar Sankranti in North Indian states when people take a holy dip in the river Ganges. Scroll down to learn more about the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.

Pongal 2024 Date

Pongal 2024 falls on Monday, January 15, 2024

Pongal Significance

Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamilians in South India and by the Tamil diaspora worldwide. The festival is named after the ceremonial ‘Pongal’, which means ‘to boil, overflow’ and refers to the traditional dish prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk with jaggery offered to Surya. Rajnikanth’s Fan Celebrates Pongal Festival in Unique Way, Offers Prayers At Temple Dedicated to Actor in Madurai.

The main theme of the Pongal festival is thanking the Sun god Lord Surya, the forces of nature and the farming animals who help in agriculture. The festival is mentioned in an inscription in Viraraghava temple attributed to Chola king Kulottunga I (1070–1122 CE) which describes a grant of land to the temple for celebrating the annual Pongal festivities. The 9th-century Shiva bhakti text Thiruvembavai by Manikkavasagar vividly mentions the festival.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2024 09:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).