Makara Sankranthi is the most celebrated festival of India which refers to the happening of the Sun entering into the zodiac sign of Makara or Capricorn. In south India, all three days of Pongal are very important whereas north Indians usually celebrate only the second day called Makara Sankranti and Lohri of the north, it is also called Pongal Sankranti.
This is also known as harvest festival. This is celebrated three – four days which starts with Bhogi, the day in which old clothes and materials are thrown away and fired, marking the beginning of a new life.
The second day is Pongal , which coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. It is celebrated by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new clay pots. The rice is later topped with brown sugar, cashew nuts, dry grapes etc. The rice is traditionally cooked at sun rise.
The moment the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout of “Ponggalo Ponggal! introduces freshly harvested rice grains in the pot and blow the sangu.
The newly cooked rice is offered to the Sun God at sunrise to reveal the gratefulness for the harvest. The Sun stands for Pratyaksha Brahman – the manifest God, who symbolizes the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, magnificent divinity blessing one and all diligently. The Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the memorable wheel of time.
During this festival there is a culture of putting Rangoli in front of houses. This tradition is followed mainly because Rangoli is designed using powder obtained by crushing newly harvested food grains; which in turn serves as food to ants.
The third day Mattu Pongal, is meant to offer thanks to the cows and buffaloes, as they are used to plough the lands. Mattu Pongal is intended to exhibit our recognition and love towards cattle and decorate them with garlands and apply kungumam (kumkum) on their foreheads and feed them good food.
In rural Tamil Nadu, daring games such as the Jallikkattu or taming the wild bull or Eruthazhuvuthal are features of the day. Jallikkattu is a bull taming sport played in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebration. This is one of the ancient sports seen in the modern period. Alike the Spanish running of the bulls, In Jallikattu, the bulls are not killed and the ‘matadors’ are not allowed using any weapon.
The one held in Alanganallur, near Madurai, is one of the more popular events. In olden days the game was used by women to choose their husbands. Successful “matadors” were chosen as grooms. Usually the majestic Kangeyam bull is involved in this game, as they are obviously more violent and brawny than any other of its species.
There are three versions of jallikattu:
- Vadi manju virattu
- Vaeli virattu
- Vadam manjuvirattu
The next is the Kaanum Pongal, time for family reunions in Tamil Nadu. During Kaanum Pongal , people visit relatives and friends to thank them for their help during festive season.
In Andhra Pradesh, Mukkanuma, the final day of Sankranthi festival, is celebrated to worship cattle. Mukkanuma is famous among the non-vegetarians of the society why because People do not eat any non-vegetarian during the first three days of the festival and eat it only on the day of Mukkanuma.
If you desire to wish people in
- Telugu spell as Sankranthi Subakankshalu
- Tamil spell as Iniya Pongal dhina nal vazhthukal
- Malayalam spells as Sankranthi ashamshakal
I wish you all to have a very happy thai pongal and Sankaranthi. 
