Pongal is a festival of thanksgiving or prayer festival for good harvest. The celebration of the happiness of good harvest is usually taken up during the month of January in Tamil Nadu that is just after the harvest season and the starting of the New Year cultivation. The significant part of this festival is the offering of prayer in honour of the sun God, Air, Water and Earth by preparing meal offering to the four Gods of nature for good crop and prosperity.
Besides prayer there are also lots of activities and programs taken up during these four consecutive days of harvest festival and so it is a season that brings blessings, happiness and joy. Another major part of the celebration which makes the season special is sharing of Pongal meal with families and friends. The benefit and the importance of this festival not only brings blessings and graces but it also reunite families and friends who have been away from home or residing in different places that is also one of the main beauty and importance of celebrating Pongal. The Pongal meal which is prepared with rice, milk and jaggery completes the festival. So if you have not experience the Pongal of Tamil, be a tourist during the month of January and experience the real joy and happiness of the real Pongal festival. Today in India besides the beauty of natural features of different forms of natural places, the blend of culture and celebration has also attracted quite a good number of foreign tourist and visitors from all over the world. Here Pongal is also one of the major tourist attractions which have made the southern state of India Tamil Nadu the core of tourist attraction.