A Happy Pongal and Makara Sankranthi 2011

Today is the day of Pongal (Makara Sankranthi), the harvest-thanksgiving festival, in India although this festival is celebrated under different names all over South and South East Asia.

• In Nepal - as Maghi or Maghe Sankranti,
• In Thailand - as Songkran
• In Laos - as Pi Ma Lao
• In Myanmar - as Thingyan
• In Cambodia - as Moha Sangkran

So where ever you are, here is wishing you a very happy Pongal and a great harvest.  Here is the kolam (sand painting using rice flour) at the entrance to my apartment complex - a simple, austere celebration to the Sun God.



Note the Sun on top and the flowers blooming at him.  Then are the 2 lights (Deepams), a symbolic representation of the Sun.  The pot containing Pongal (Rice cooked with jaggery) is flanked by 2 sugar canes and the flowers Lotus and the Lilly - signifying plenty.

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