From Lohri to Ponga, While the shared traditions of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, and Pongal prove India’s inclusive spirit, culinary traditions vary depending on the region.
In Bengal, we have a saying, baaro maashe tyaaroporbon. This roughly translates to “12 months and 13 festivals”. Come to think of it, it’s no exaggeration. It’s a truism that applies to India and not just Bengal. The year begins with three major harvest festivals competing for attention and tummy space. January marks the beginning of the harvest season across India and brings festivals that celebrate the bounty of nature. Growing up in Bengal, I had never experienced or celebrated two of these festivals until I moved to North India.
From Lohri to Ponga
Come January 13, bonfires light up the night skies across Delhi and North India as people gather around them – families, friends, neighbours – to celebrate Lohri. Singing, dancing, and sharing treats like chikki, puffed rice, peanuts, and, thanks to the 20th century, popcorn bring people together. These treats are often thrown into the fire as part of the ritual. Lohri is observed every year to mark the end of the winter solstice, the arrival of longer days, and the harvest of rabi crops like sugarcane.
Like all festivals in India, Lohri has its signature dishes. The centerpiece is sarson ka saag – a rich, flavourful dish made with mustard greens, fenugreek (methi), and spinach, topped with a large dollop of butter – and thick makki ki roti, a flatbread made from cornmeal, one of the main crops grown in Punjab. This combination is incredibly nutritious.
The From Lohri to Ponga day after Lohri, just in case you hadn’t celebrated enough, is Makar Sankranti, celebrated to thank nature for a good harvest and to welcome prosperity in the new year. It marks the sun’s transition into Makar Rashi or Capricorn, and the beginning of Uttarayan, or the sun’s northward journey. Devotees take dips in one of our many holy rivers, fly kites, wear new clothes, and indulge in sweets made from til or sesame and gur or jaggery, such as tilgul and chikkis.
Each community has its own prasad or holy offering to the gods and goddesses. It is interesting to note that over time, communities adopted and reinterpreted each other’s sweet dishes. These harvest festivals, including Pongal in Tamil Naduand Onam in Kerala, among others, always incorporate seasonal produce. In Odishaon Makar Sankranti, for instance, makar chaula — a healthy, uncooked sweet — is made from freshly harvested crushed rice mixed with fruits like banana, grated coconut, and jaggery or sugar.
From Lohri to Ponga, While Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the North, Pongal, the harvest festival of Tamilians, takes center stage in Tamil Nadu. This four-day harvest festival is also a celebration of the sun god and the symbiotic relationship between humans, animals, and nature. The festival’s namesake dish, pongal, is a mixture of boiled sweet rice resembling a cross between congee and khichdi. Its name comes from the Tamil word pongu, meaning “to boil over”.
Almost all Tamil homes I know, even the most cosmopolitan ones, prepare a sweet pongal known as sakkarai pongal in Tamil. It is almost like a sweet porridge made with rice and dal, and flavoured with cardamoms and dry fruits. Another version of sweet pongal is shakkara pongal, which is made with mishri or rock sugar. If you’re truly blessed, you should hope to get an invite to a Tamilian home for a Pongal meal – an array of vegetable dishes and sweets served on a banana leaf, followed by delicious sweet pongal.
From Lohri to Pongal, And if you don’t have any Tamilian friends, I would strongly recommend heading over to one of the multiple “South Indian” restaurants – impossible to avoid in any city – for their Pongal meal. There is no better way to appreciate a community and a culture than through its food and customs. In today’s world of divisiveness, the inclusiveness of these festivals is something to celebrate. So go ahead, join people around a Lohri bonfire, and share some chiki, peanuts, and joy with them.
(Disclaimer: The information given here is based on general information. Before adopting it, definitely take medical advice. THE MONK does not confirm this.)
