Chennai: Pongal, the traditional harvest festival, was celebrated in Tamil Nadu with religious fervour and gaiety. The festival falls on the first day of the auspicious Tamil month 'Thai' ever year and people ushered in the festivities with a lot of enthusiasm by worshipping the Sun God. People attired in new clothes, prepared sweet pongal, a traditional dish made of rice, dhal, jaggery and milk and offered it to Sun god as a mark of thanks by farmers for a bountiful season.
It was celebrated with much fanfare in rural areas where people decorated their courtyards with colourful rangolis and tied festoons and prepared the pongal using the traditional earthern pot. Thai Pongal is mainly celebrated to convey appreciation to the Sun God for providing the energy for agriculture. However, the festival was a low-key affair in southern districts, which were engulfed in gloom as the traditional Jallikattu (taming of bulls), usually associated with the Pongal, could not be held for the third successive year due to a ban imposed by the Supreme court.
The festival was also a low key in cauvery delta areas which witnessed severe drought and suicide by farmers following the failure of the northeast monsoon. Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and leaders of various political parties greeted the people on the occasion. (UNI)