The Tamil community’s most auspicious festival Pongal was grandly celebrated by the Bhubaneswar Tamil Sangam (BTS) as Thai Pongal on Sunday at its premises at Ekamra Vihar here. The premises were decorated with flowers, banana trees, sugarcane and balloons. Participants turned up in traditional South Indian attires of sarees and dhotis.
The daylong programme started with Tamizh Thai Vaazhthu, followed by variety of cultural programmes. Participants were greeted with sandalwood paste and kumkum in the very Tamilian style. BTS patron S Sundararajan was the chief guest while president S Doraiswami presided over the function snd vice-president TBT Ansari welcomed the gathering and anchored the programme.
ladies prepared the sweet Pongal which was dedicated to Sun God for good harvest. A Sweet Pongal Competition was held among ladies along with their Odia friends.As Pongal is also known for the colourful kolam (Rangoli) designs made on the floors Tamilian homes on the day, a contest was held in the community centre where an award was given to the best kolam maker.Participants made the festival livelier with their mellifluous renditions of Tamil and Odia dances and songs.