KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 15, 2015 (The Sun Daily): The Tamil community in Malaysia today celebrated Ponggal, a harvest festival that expresses gratitude to God, the Sun, the Earth and the milk-bearing cow. Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk R. S. Mohan Shan said Ponggal is celebrated in January (14 or 15), coinciding with Thai, the 10th month in the Tamil calendar, and following the harvest season in India.
“The Tamil community believes that the advent of the month of Thai brings with it good luck and a new ray of hope, and I hope that the community will exercise more thrift for a more comfortable year,” he told Bernama. Mohan Shan explained that the celebration would begin with the Bhogi, a day earlier when everything old was burnt, along with negative thoughts.
The following day, the community would cook rice and milk with brown sugar in a new earthen pot until the milk overflows, to indicate abundance, and offer this to the Sun God, he said. “The second day of the celebration, called Maattu Ponggal, is dedicated to the cow, which is held in high esteem by Hindus, while the third day of Kanni Ponggal is celebrated specially by unmarried girls in the hope of getting a good husband,” he added.