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Pongal

பொங்கல்
POHN-gul

Tamil four-day harvest festival, also the name of the sweet rice dish cooked for it.

Appears as an answer in MG Mini #929.

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Meaning & usage

Pongal marks the end of the Tamil month Margazhi and the start of Thai, around mid-January, and runs across four days: Bhogi, Thai Pongal, Mattu Pongal (honouring cattle) and Kaanum Pongal. The festival is named after the dish that defines it — newly harvested rice boiled in milk with jaggery, allowed to bubble over as a sign of plenty. The shout "Pongalo Pongal!" goes up the moment the pot froths over.

In a sentence

The pot bubbled over and the whole courtyard shouted Pongalo Pongal.

Common spelling variants

  • Pongol

Pongal is the English spelling used in MG Mini #929.

As seen in crosswords

Pongal is a 6-letter answer. A typical clue:

“Tamil four-day harvest festival, also the name of the sweet rice dish cooked for it” (6)

Play the crossword that uses it — MG Mini #929

Category: Festival Origin: Tamil Script: Tamil

Related words

  • Onam — Ten-day harvest festival of Kerala welcoming the mythical king Mahabali.
  • Holi — Hindu spring festival of colours marking the triumph of good over evil.
  • Diwali — Hindu festival of lights celebrated across India and the South Asian diaspora.
  • Eid — Either of two major Muslim festivals — Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan, or Eid al-Adha at Hajj.
  • Oota — A meal or food in Kannada.
  • Pukka — Genuine, solid, properly made — an Indian English adjective meaning "the real deal".

Related crosswords

Puzzles with a theme close to Pongal.

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