Mattu Pongal Festival Thai 2, the day of the cattle.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Mattu Pongal
- தமிழ்
- மாட்டுப் பொங்கல்
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
Thai 2, the day of the cattle. The bullocks and cows that pulled the plough are washed, their horns painted and tipped with brass, and garlands, bells and turmeric are put on them; pongal is fed to them first. The jallikattu of the southern districts is held on this day or the days about it.
- Deity
- Nandi, Pashupati
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The morning of Thai 2, after the cattle are bathed; the arati is done before they are let out.
The fast
No fast. The cattle are fed first, then the household eats the same pongal.
Where the regions differ
The Telugu country keeps the day after Sankranti as Kanuma, also for the cattle. Kerala has no separate cattle day, and the north keeps Makar Sankranti as one day.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.