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Mattu Pongal

The cattle day of the Tamil harvest festival of Pongal, when cows and bullocks are bathed, decorated and honoured.

A tile drawn for this page, not a picture of Mattu Pongal.

Also: Maattu Pongal, Kanu Pongal

Pongal, the Tamil harvest festival, runs over several days in mid-January, and the day after Thai Pongal is Mattu Pongal, mattu meaning cattle. Farmers wash their cows and bullocks, paint their horns in bright colours, tie on new ropes, bells and garlands, and feed them pongal, the sweet rice cooked for the festival, in thanks for their work in the harvest. Cattle are often led in procession through the village. Jallikattu events are held in many places in the days around Mattu Pongal. Similar cattle days are kept in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh at Sankranti, when cattle are decorated and, in places, led over fire.

See also

Jallikattu Pola Bullock Gau Mata

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