Christian to celebrate Ponggal for first time ~TSOL

PETALING JAYA: Arul Mary Iralandoo will celebrate Ponggal Festival for the first time by cooking sweet milk rice this Saturday despite being a Christian.


Knowing that the harvest festival is a cultural event, 51-year-old Arul Mary, a national long-distance runner in the late 80s, is very excited with the idea of celebrating it this year.

She was seen shopping at Little India in Brickfields yesterday.

“I always wanted to experience the fun of boiling the milk and cooking the sweet rice, so I decided to do it this year.

“I bought a colourful clay pot and milk to cook the rice. Since I am not sure how to cook it, I am going to ask my sister to help,” she said.

Ponggal Festival is celebrated by Hindus during the month of Thai as it marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

It is a tradition for Hindus to cook the sweet milk rice with a clay pot outside their homes before sunrise.

T. Pungkody, 37, from Bangsar said she started to shop for the festival early for fear of a large crowd at Little India in the next few days.

“Usually, people would rush to buy the provisions for the festival at the last minute, leaving us with fewer choices, hence I wanted to shop early,” she said.

With Thaipusam approaching about a week after the Ponggal Festival, 26-year-old P. Vicky said she would have a double celebration this year.

She and her family have planned to go to Batu Caves the morning after Ponggal to fulfil their vows.

“Although Thaipusam is not for another week, we want to fulfil our vows earlier to escape the large crowd at Batu Caves on Thai­pusam day,” said Vicky who hails from Petaling Jaya.

Retail shop assistant B. Kumar, 32, said business was good.

“The new instant Ponggal Mix is a hot favourite as many busy working women find it easier to prepare the sweet rice as prayer offerings,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: Arul Mary Iralandoo will celebrate Ponggal Festival for the first time by cooking sweet milk rice this Saturday despite being a Christian.


Knowing that the harvest festival is a cultural event, 51-year-old Arul Mary, a national long-distance runner in the late 80s, is very excited with the idea of celebrating it this year.

She was seen shopping at Little India in Brickfields yesterday.

“I always wanted to experience the fun of boiling the milk and cooking the sweet rice, so I decided to do it this year.

“I bought a colourful clay pot and milk to cook the rice. Since I am not sure how to cook it, I am going to ask my sister to help,” she said.

Ponggal Festival is celebrated by Hindus during the month of Thai as it marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

It is a tradition for Hindus to cook the sweet milk rice with a clay pot outside their homes before sunrise.

T. Pungkody, 37, from Bangsar said she started to shop for the festival early for fear of a large crowd at Little India in the next few days.

“Usually, people would rush to buy the provisions for the festival at the last minute, leaving us with fewer choices, hence I wanted to shop early,” she said.

With Thaipusam approaching about a week after the Ponggal Festival, 26-year-old P. Vicky said she would have a double celebration this year.

She and her family have planned to go to Batu Caves the morning after Ponggal to fulfil their vows.

“Although Thaipusam is not for another week, we want to fulfil our vows earlier to escape the large crowd at Batu Caves on Thai­pusam day,” said Vicky who hails from Petaling Jaya.

Retail shop assistant B. Kumar, 32, said business was good.

“The new instant Ponggal Mix is a hot favourite as many busy working women find it easier to prepare the sweet rice as prayer offerings,” he said.

Comments from lvbala:

I cut and paste the above news from the Star online. It was a suprising news to read early in the morning but enhance my views of some. This was the way Malaysia should be and we must move forward to built one nation through what was demontrated by the christians.

GOD teach us to do good deeds and practice good behaviour. One should learn from what was said and done. Great move...
May be The Hindus should celebrate X'mas some day... do muruku and tosai as well...
 
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