   thai pongal is a harvest festival celebrated by tamil people at the end of the harvest season.  it is a four-day festival which runs from last day of the month maargazhi to the third day of the month thai on the tamil calendar, and generally from january 13 to january 16 on the gregorian calendar. the second of the four days, the first day of thai, is the main day of the festival and called pongal. thai pongal is primarily celebrated to convey appreciation and thankfulness to the sun as the primary energy source of agriculture and good harvests. it is one of the most important festivals celebrated by tamil people in the indian state of tamil nadu, the indian union territory of puducherry, and sri lanka. in tamil, the word pongal means "overflowing" and signifies abundance and prosperity. on the day of pongal, there is a symbolic ritual of boiling fresh milk in a new clay pot at sunrise. when the milk boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, people shout "pongalo pongal!"pongal harvest festival observers also often say "thai pirandhal vazhi pirakkum", which means "the commencement of thai paves the way for new opportunities". tamilians celebrate the festival by decorating their homes with banana and mango leaves and by embellishing the floor with decorative patterns drawn with rice flour. ==background== pongal marks the beginning of the northward journey of the sun from its southernmost-limit, a movement traditionally referred to as uttarayana.{{cite book|last=raman|first=varadaraja|title=variety in religion and science: daily reflections|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xq_ia3xpzmyc&pg=pa39|accessdate=3 january 2012|date=june 2005|publisher=iuni
Festivals_in_India Festivals_in_Tamil_Nadu Food_festivals Hindu_festivals January_observances Tamil_festivals