Sankranti or Pongal
To Earth, a Festival of Thankfulness
Hindus acknowledge the sacredness of
Earth and all life. Nature
is a creative force worthy of respect,
even veneration. Each year
at harvest time, agrarian communities
all over India celebrate
this festival with enthusiastic
abandon. They dance, fl y kites, sing and
exchange gifts in a grand thanksgiving celebration.
What is the nature
of this festival?
Makara Sankranti is four days of giving
thanks
to four great forces of infl uence and
protection:
Indra, the giver of rain; Surya, the
Sun;
gracious cattle and beloved ancestors.
This
happy occasion is known as Pongal by
Tamils,
Pedha Panduga among the Telugus and
Lohri
by Punjabis. It begins on the day the
Sun enters
Makara (Capricorn), between January 13
and 15. This is a special time of
giving blankets, pumpkins, sugarcane
and other items to the
poor. Married women are honored,
and gifts are given to newborn
children.
What is done on
the fi rst day?
The day before festivities begin,
Hindus thoroughly clean their
homes, discarding unwanted,
worn out or broken items and obtaining
replacements for the year
ahead. This clears away stale, negative
energy and brings an infl ux of
dynamic blessings into the home.
It is a time for clearing the mind as
well, to begin the year with focus
and confi dence. On this day, Indra,
the celestial power of lightning and rain, is
worshiped.
What happens on
the second day?
Using colored rice fl our, women draw
patterns
on the fl oor called kolam or rangoli, depicting
the Moon and the Sun in a chariot.
Prayers
are directed to Surya, the Sun, with
offerings
of freshly harvested sugarcane and
vegetables.
The main event happens at sunrise when
everyone
gathers in a gaily decorated compound
where freshly harvested rice is cooked with
milk in a new pot. In Tamil
communities, the
moment the pot boils over, all shout,
“Pongalo
Pongal!” (“It’s boiling over!”). All
watch to
see whether the froth overfl ows toward
the
East, which auspiciously indicates
abundance
for the year ahead. Conches are sounded
and children dance for joy. A portion
of the
boiled rice, the season’s fi rst food,
is offered to
Mother Earth as a gesture of gratitude,
and to
all creatures and nature spirits. The
remainder
is eaten by the families. Wearing new
clothes,
families visit one another, exchanging
gifts and
enjoying feasts.
What happens on
the third day?
On the third day, Hindus offer thanks
to
cattle, the farmer’s gracious helpers.
Bulls and
cows are lovingly adorned with cowrie
shells,
embroidered shawls, colorful ropes and
bells.
They are fed sweet rice and
sugar cane.
How is the fi nal
day
celebrated?
On the fourth day, ancestors
and wildlife are venerated. It
is a day for picnic outings and
family visits. Young girls and
women receive blessings from
older women for happiness
and prosperity. Youth honor
their elders. Brothers and
sisters exchange gifts and
express mutual respect
and allegiance. Poets and
their works are revered. In
Tamil Nadu, it is also called
Tiruvalluvar Day, in honor of
the author of the famed ethical scripture Tirukural.
Tidbits About the Harvest Festival
Why is the harvest
festival so important? Marked as an inauspicious
time, the months before the harvest are
fraught with anxiety for
farmers and for society. All
celebrations, such as weddings, are held off.
Months of toil in the fi elds and
uncertainty over the harvest come to an
end with Makara Sankranti. The harvest
brings
prosperity. Agrarian communities all
over India
celebrate this festival with
enthusiastic abandon.
Once the crops are harvested and cash
fl ows in, communities proceed to plan
weddings
and other rites of passage. Over one
quarter of
the Rig Veda is devoted to praises
of Indra, the
lord of the ele ments, the exalted Lord
of the devas
and God of rain, who is essential to
the yield.
Are there other
festivals during this
month? In the Bhogi bonfi re,
communities
heap and burn organic, agricultural
waste accompanied
by festive dancing to drums. During
Kummi, a folk dance is performed by
children,
twirling and clapping around a pot to
simple
poetry chanted in a sing-song manner.
For
Gombe Ellu, children carry dolls as
they visit
neighbors with offerings of ellu bella (a “trail-mix” made of
desiccated
coconut, jaggery, sesame seeds and
peanuts). They give and receive
treats, learning from a small age the
value of community sharing and
participation.
Sakkarai Pongal
This recipe for sumptuous sweet
rice is from Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes
Serves: 4
Equipment: a medium pot, a
skillet and a big spoon
Ingredients
2 cups rice, 1/4 cup raisins,
2 tbsp mung dal, 1 tsp cardamom
powder, 2/3 cup sugar,
3/4 cup freshly grated coconut
√(or frozen grated coconut),
1/4 cup cashews, 1 tbsp ghee
Method
1. Roast mung dal in a dry skillet
until
it is golden brown.
2. Boil rice and mung dal in fi ve cups
of water for thirty minutes, until the
rice is cooked.
3. Add sugar and coconut and stir
well. Reduce heat and simmer for 10
minutes.
4. Fry raisins and cashews in ghee
until
nuts are light brown, then add them
to the rice along with the cardamom
powder.
5. Stir rice well & remove from heat.
Mahasivaratri
Siva’s Great Night
Mahasivaratri is the
most important festival dedicated to Lord
Siva. This holy day is observed by
millions of Hindus all over
the world. It is one of Hinduism’s most
esoteric holy days,
when yoga practices, mantras and
meditation take the devotee closer
to God’s essence within the core of
himself. Hindus typically fast,
maintain silence and stay up all night
to perform spiritual practices,
such as worshiping, chanting and
singing. In some regions, devotees
visit as many Siva temples as they can on this
night.
Who is Siva?
For hundreds of millions of Hindus Siva
is
the Supreme Being, the absolute One God
who both transcends creation and
pervades
it—thus existing as our own innermost
essence.
Siva is the powerful Deity whose
energetic
dance creates, sustains and dissolves
the
universe in endless cycles. He is the
master
yogi delving into unfathomable
mysteries, the
supreme ascetic, the prime mystic, the
Light
behind all light, the Life within all
life. Siva
is often called Mahadeva, “Great Being
of
Light,” for He created other, lesser
Gods such
as Ganesha and Karttikeya. Although
Siva is
usually depicted as male, in reality
God and
the Gods are beyond gender and form, as
depicted by His half-male, half-female
form,
Ardhanarishvara. Parvati, regarded as
Siva’s
consort in village Hinduism, is
mystically understood
as His manifest energy, inseparable
from Him. The ancient Tirumantiram scripture
says of Siva, “Himself creates. Himself
preserves. Himself destroys. Himself
conceals.
Himself all of this He does and then
grants
liberation—Himself the all-pervading
Lord.”
What happens on
Mahasivaratri?
Many Hindus perform an all-night vigil,
plunging the soul into its own essence, led by
Siva, the supreme yogi, who is both the
guide
and the goal of the search. Staying
awake
through the night is a sacrifi ce and a
break
from life’s normal routine, a time out
of time
to be with God within, to reach for the
realization
of our true, immortal Self. Siva is
known
as Abhisheka Priya, “He who loves sacred
ablutions,” and thus many temples and
home
shrines have water always dripping on
the
Sivalinga. On this special night,
Sivalingas are
bathed with special substances,
sometimes
several times. Mahasivaratri occurs on
the
night before the new moon in
February/March.
What is the Kumbha
Mela?
The Kumbha Mela is a grand festival
held every
few years in rotation at four places
where
sacred rivers converge: Haridwar,
Prayag, Nasik
and Ujjain. The largest melas, at
Haridwar and
Prayag, fall in January to April and
often include
Mahasivaratri. Devotees come from near
and far to immerse themselves in the
holy waters,
with prayers for purifi cation and
spiritual
liberation on their lips. In 2001, the
Kumbha
Mela at Prayag, held on the river bank,
was attended
by more than 60 million people.It was
the biggest human gathering held on
Earth,
seven times the population of New York City.
Tidbits About God Siva
What is the
special off ering to Siva?
Hindus believe that offering bilva
leaves (Aegle
marmelos) on Mahasivaratri is
most auspicious.
Legend tells of a hunter who was chased
by a
tiger. Scrambling up a thorny tree, he
plucked
and dropped its leaves to stay alert.
The tree
was a bilva, The leaves happened to
fall on a
Sivalinga, and it was the night of
Sivaratri. That
all-night worship of God, though
inadvertent,
earned the hunter liberation from
rebirth. Siva
accepts devotees irrespective of their
faults and
foibles, forgiving man’s cognizant and
innocent
mistakes.
What is the
Sivalinga?
Linga means
“mark, token or sign.” A Siva linga,
representing
Siva, is found in virtually all of His
temples.
The Sivalinga is the simplest and most
ancient
symbol of the Divine. It is especially
evocative
of Parasiva, God beyond all forms and qualities,
the unmanifested Absolute. Sivalingas
are commonly
made of stone, but may also be of
metal, precious
gems, crystal, wood, earth or even
transitory materials
like sand or ice. Ardent devotees make
special Sivalingas
to worship during Mahasivaratri.
Is there a special
mantra for Siva?
Namah
Sivaya is among the foremost Vedic
mantras. It means
“adoration to Siva” and is called the
Panchakshara, or
“fi ve-letters.” The fi ve elements,
too, are embodied in
this ancient formula for invocation. Na
is earth, Ma is
water, Si is fi re, Va is air, and Ya
is ether, or space.
What is holy ash?
Holy ash is a sacrament that
is dear to devotees of Siva. Taken from
sacred fi res,
it purifi es and blesses those who wear
it. This fi ne,
white powder is worn on the forehead as
a reminder
of the temporary nature of the physical
body and the
urgency to strive for spiritual
attainment and closeness
to God.
Fasting & Silence
While virtually every Hindu festival
comes with a sumptuous list of foods
to feast on, during Mahasivaratri most
Hindus fast. A spiritual practice found
in almost all of the world’s religions,
fasting calms the physical, mental
and emotional energies, helping the
devotee draw nearer to the ineffable
Self within. While the most strict fast
on nothing but water; others permit
themselves fruits, milk or rice.
Many observe silence on this night,
thinking of nothing but God. Silence,
known in Sanskrit as mauna, quiets
the demands of the mind and body,
bringing forth spiritual clarity.
In Hinduism, God is not separate from
creation. A virtuous life and certain
techniques, such as yoga and ascetic
practices, allow a person to remove the
veil that makes us think of ourselves
as
separate from Him.
Om
Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami ji, Hinduism
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