Maattu Pongal

The day after Pongal is celebrated as Maattu Pongal -literally Pongal for cattel-in honour of the cattle which helped the farmers to plough and sow to reap a bountiful harvest. For city folks, this festval does not have any meaning at all. But in the farming community the cows and bulls would be scrubbed clean and their horns painted in myriad colours and the cattle adorned with colourful flowers around their necks and a paste of turmeric applied on their foreheads with a round spot of 'kumkum' in the centre. The pointed horns of the bullocks (In our district the horns of the bulls are left to grow unlike some other places where they would be singed at the time of growth, such cattle are called 'mottai maadu' meaning bald cattle, while our bulls were called 'kombu maadu', meaning cattle with horns-At the ploughs, mottai maadu would be paired with another mottai maadu while bulls with horns were paired together) would be covered with special ornamental brass covers with a colourful tassles at the end. Their necks would be garlanded after being smeared with turmeric and sandal pastes. We enjoyed making all the yellow and red marks on their bodies with turmeric and kumkum, though we were afraid to even go near the bulls and the men would do it themselves. As for us we would brave a visit to the stable where the cows would show their necks patiently to us! The smaller children would fight for the chance to decorate the smallest calves!

The cattle would be gathered at the riverside and a community 'pongal' would be cooked at the banks of the river (in my mother's place-though some people did it at their own backyard and stable too). The cattle would be fed this Pongal and fresh green grass. Usually the men would do this ritual. Boys and small girls also would accompany them to watch the ceremony.

At home, our courtyard would be decorated with beautiful kolams as is usual for the duration of Pongal festival. The ladies would build a shallow square at one side of the main entrance with cowdung and it would further be divided by two crossed lines into four squares, the walls around an inch high. Each square would be filled to the brim with turmeric water, milk and other such auspicious coloured things-I do not remember the things but only the sharp contrast in the different colours. All around flowers would be strewn and this symbol marked the welcome sign for the cattle when they made their grand entrance back from their sojourn to the riverside.

Towards evening the men would return driving them home, with the boys beating drums (and those who didn't get a drum would get hold of brass plates and sticks). All would be running behind the bulls very fast indeed! The sound of the hooves, the men's shouts, the boys' drums-the whole atmosphere in the evening twilight was very thrilling to watch! At the back the few cows would be tottering behind slowly masticating the grass and not at all bothered by the boisterous behaviour of their companions! This is a small scale 'manju virattu' taking place in almost all the villages and small towns every year. (In some parts of the state, like in Alanganallur in Madurai district, this would be conducted on a grand scale and madly rushing bulls with sharp pointed horns, trained through the year for this occasion, would be valiantly brought down by unarmed youth braving injury and death. )

When they reached home the cattle would be given a grand welcome with 'arathi' and 'kumkum' and would be made to cross the threshold over a rice-pounding wooden stick (ulakkai) and a fewstalks of burning hay, which apparently brought good luck to them and the household, according to my grandmother! This royal welcome would mark the end of this festival.

The same evening people would offer food to their forefathers in a special ceremony at home. For this they would prepare all sort of dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, along with many sweets and savouries. As it was supposed to be offered to the spirits of the dead-and-gone, the dishes would be given to us only after 10 pm or so. I can recollect how we used to grumble about being woken up at what felt like midnight and told to eat a grand feast! Finally we would eat the sweets and savouries when we got up the next morning.

The next day is celebrtated as kaanum pongal which merits a separate blog! Watch for it!