Pongal 2016 is on 15th of January of the year 2016. Pongal is a festival of South India, which is celebrated to commemorate the best of harvest time. Hence, it is known as harvest festival, also celebrated as thanksgiving day.

Pongal: A Harvest Festival?

Harvest festival is celebrated in a region at the main time of the harvest in a region such as Pongal in 2016. This is the time when people cherish the best time of their harvest by feasting families and public. Yes, the answer to your question what is harvest festival for India is Tamil Pongal. The dates of harvest festival celebrations vary from region to region as per their time of harvest. As we know that Indians follow lunar calendar, dates of all Hindu festivals cannot be defined from Solar Gregorian calendar, but Pongal is the only festival that is celebrated from solar calendar. In spite of being Indian festival, Pongal date is fixed for 14th of January of every year.

About Harvest Festivals

Harvest festival is celebrated in almost all parts of the world. However, here we are particularly talking about India and Pongal festival, so we will concentrate on it. Festival Pongal is celebrated in all parts of India with different names. However, it is specifically known as Thai Pongal in South India. In other parts of India, Pongal is celebrated as Makar Sankranti, Uttarayan, Lohri and Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu. As we know, India is famous for festivals, there are many other festivals too that are celebrated as harvest festivals, such as, Holi, Vaisakhi and Onam.

Pongal 2016: Celebrations of India

Pongal has been derived from the word 'Ponga', which means 'boil'. Hence, Pongal means overflowing or spillover. This word is also dedicated to a special sweet dish cooked on the day of Pongal. Festival of Pongal is celebrated continuously till four days from the start of Thai month on 15th of January every month. Pongal in Tamil, Bhogali Bihu in Assam, Lohri in Punjab, Bhogi in Andhra Pradesh and Makar Sankranti in other parts of the country; all of these festivals are celebrated at the same time.

Celebration of Pongal in 2016

Like every year, in 2016 too, Pongal is going to be a great fun. Pongal is basically a four day festival. The first day is known as Bhogi. On this day, people discard their useless stuff of home and buy new ones. This day remarks a new cycle. Second day of the festival is known as Perum, which is also known to people as Surya Pongal. It is the main day of Pongal festival. On this day, people offer prayers to the Lord Sun. This is the day of main festival when people wear new clothes and women decorate their houses with Kolam (Rangoli designs) using rice flour and red clay. Further, Mattu Pongal is the third day of this festival. The festivities of this day include worship of cattle. It is because of the belief that these cattle help in good harvest. Fourth day of this energizing festival is known as Kanum Pongal. People go on picnics and spend quality time with their family and friends on this day. Festival of Pongal includes dancing, exchanging gifts and buffalo taming contests.

Overall, Pongal is a festival of celebrating fun. As every year, we humans follow innovative ideas to improve the quality of fun. Therefore, we are going to experience a special time during this four day festival of Pongal in 2016.

Pongal Kolam

Kolam is the term used for Rangoli in South India. Now for the ones who don't know the meaning of Rangoli, it is the design made of different colored organic powders, like Turmeric Powder, Powdered Rice, Vermillion, Powder of Indigo, Powdered Henna Leaves and some allied stuff. This design is specifically made on the floor to decorate. It is a temporary design and stays the same till the time nobody touches and ruins the pattern.

Pongal Special

As Pongal is a very big festival of India, it is celebrated around all the corners of India with different names. There are certain things that are exclusively quite famous about this festival. These are - Pongal recipes, sweets for Pongal, different ways followed by people for Pongal celebration, games and decorations, to name a few.

Indeed, Pongal is a grand festival, then why to miss a chance to intimate your friends. Don't miss the chance of celebrating this wonderful festival with your loved ones, after all it comes once in a year. Stay tuned to AstroSage to know more on Pongal and celebrate the harvest festival in Indian way. With this, we wish you a very Happy Pongal 2016!