FREMONT: Bay Area Tamil Manram celebrated their Pongal festival on January 19 at Centerville Junior Middle School in Fremont. The program started with cooking of Pongal in authentic Tamil Nadu style.
Women gathered around a decorated podium and started to cook the sweet Pongal, symbolizing the prosperity to be spread in our life. Pongal is a thanksgiving or harvest festival celebrated in South India at the end of the harvest season.
Pongal signals the end of the traditional farming season, giving farmers a break from their monotonous routine. Farmers also perform puja to crops, signaling the end of the traditional farming season. It also sets the pace for a series of festivals to follow in a calendar year. Bay Area Tamil Manram has been serving the San Francisco Bay area since 1980. It was started as a group of like-minded Tamils to socialize and has grown into a strong organization of what it is now.
Pongal festivities were started with invocation to Goddess Tamil, introductory speech by Jayakumar Muthalagu, President of the organization. Anu Natarajan, Vice-mayor of Fremont was the chief guest. She shared her childhood experience and thanked the association for celebrating the festival in traditional style, thereby giving an opportunity to the kids to know our roots. She said it was a highly laudable effort by the organization to bring back the festival the way it’s celebrated in Tamil Nadu.
Karakaatam, Silambaattam, Uriadithal, poetry recital, dance, drama were organized as a part of the festivities. Kids of Bay area showcased their talents through dance and singing performance. Most of the performances were based on the theme of “Pongal”.
Tamil Manram is committed to the growth of Tamil cultural activities in the Bay area. Tamil Manram regularly conducts children events and encourages kids to learn Tamil language and Tamil culture.
Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
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