Tag Archives: Sikh Culture & Traditions Q&A

When is Thai Pongal Celebrated? Thai Pongal is celebrated on January 14th every year. The month of Thai (January) is the harvest season in the Tamil homeland spanning from Tamil Nadu to Tamil Eelam. Pongal refers to rice cooked in milk and sweetened with brown sugar (chakkarai, from which the English word jaggery is derived). On a full scale it …

What is the Significance of Pongal festival? Everybody knows about the celebration of Pongal but hardly anyone knows about its significance and meaning. People celebrating Pongal should be aware of the meaning & significance of the important rituals associated with this harvest festival. Pongal or Thai Pongal is also called Makar Sankranti, since it is celebrated on the first day …

What is Surya Pongal? The second day is dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun God, who is offered boiled milk and jaggery. A plank is placed on the ground, a large image of the Sun God is sketched on it and Kolam designs are drawn around it. This icon of the Sun God is worshiped for divine benediction as the …

What is the history of Pongal? The history of Pongal can be traced back to the Sangam Age, ie, 200 B.C. to 300 A.D. Pongal is an ancient festival of the Tamils and it is not known when exactly the Tamils began celebrating the festival, but some historians identify it with the Thai Un and Thai Niradal, believed to have …

Mattu Pongal: This third day is meant for the cattle (‘mattu’) – the giver of milk and puller of the plough. The farmer’s ‘dumb friends’ are given a good bath, their horns are polished, painted and covered with metal caps, and garlands are put around their necks. The Pongal that has been offered to the gods is then given to …

Why it is a Harvest Festival? Pongal comes from the word ‘ponga’ which literally means ‘boil’ and so ‘pongal’ connotes ‘spillover’ or that which is ‘overflowing’. It’s also the name of the special sweet dish cooked on the Pongal day. Pongal continues through the first four days of the ‘Thai’ month that starts on January 14 every year. What is …

Pongal festival is celebrated for four continuous days beginning from the last day of Tamil month of Maargazhi (December – January) and lasting upto the third day of Thai. Pongal is celebrated in the month of January after the winter solstice. When is Pongal festival? The date of Pongal usually remains same as it is reckoned according to the solar …

Lohri Folk Songs: Dulla Bhatti grew up as a real fighter and warrior learning the art with his keen eye from here and there, unknowingly in the foot-steps of his father and grandfather. When he was young enough, his mother told him the about the past and from then on Dulla pledged that his only purpose in life was to …

Dulla Bhatti was a famous legendary Rajput hero of Punjab, who led a rebellion against the famous Mughal king Akbar. There is a kind of epic in Punjabi language called Dulle di var, which narrates the battle events of Dulla Bhatti. Still there is a famous region in Punjab (now in Pakistan), called Dulle Di Bar means the forest of …

They were the sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Name the four Sahibzadas were Baba Ajit Singh Ji (1687 – 1704), Baba Jujhar Singh Ji (1689 – 1704), Baba Zorawar Singh Ji (1696 – 1704), Baba Fateh Singh Ji (1698 – 1704). Eldest Sahibzada was Baba Ajit Singh Ji and youngest was Baba Fateh Singh Ji. Baba Fateh Singh Ji …