The beauty of India lies in the various festivals celebrated in the country. Some major festivals, like Diwali and Holi, are celebrated by most people in the country. Some have different names in different languages, simultaneously celebrated around the same time. The harvest festival is a classic example.
Bihu, Basant Panchami, Lohri and Pongal are all harvest festivals throughout India that are celebrated in different states consecutively. Pongal festival is enjoyed by the people of Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated over four days. The second day, known as Thai Pongal, is the most important one. It coincides with Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival celebrated in the North. On this day, people eat a dish named after the festival that demands their energy from them.
After eating Pongal, no matter how hard you try, your eyes will start to close. You will most certainly feel sleepy. If you’ve noticed, this is very common among Indians. Normally people feel like going to bed after eating food. This is because they eat rice, which has sleep-inducing properties. White rice is particularly known to cause sleep. Pongal dish uses white rice, and that is enough to make one yearn for their beds.
The Pongal dish is served to the Sun God during Pongal festival. The dish is made with rice and moong dal. Sometimes it can be sweet, sometimes savoury, depending on the type of Pongal being made. The most popular one is the VenPongal. It has curry leaves, black pepper and ginger along with rice and moong dal. It is very similar to khichdi but the ingredients are different. It is, one could argue, a distant cousin of khichdi.
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