Pongal/Sankranti

[Mani Varadarajan]

Naga Ganesan wrote:
>  AaNDaaL refers to preparations for Pongal day. I have
>  to check the exact lines.

Actually, Andal does not refer to the "Pongal" day,
but to the the preparation of sakkarai pongal (sweet
pongal) during the month of maargazhi (December-January)
before Pongal.  The day on which sakkarai pongal
is prepared is known today among Tamil Vaishnavas as
as "kUDArai vellum". Andal describes devotees of Vishnu
happily eating this pongal, sweetened by vellum (jaggery),
and so rich with ghee that it drips to their elbows
as they eat it.

The dish known as Pongal is described in upa-purANAs as
mudga-anna.  This preparation is prepared (at least in
orthodox Tamil Vaishnava households) everyday of maargazhi
as an offering to God and then consumed.  There is a
reference in a Purana to this practice (Brahmanda Purana?).

Regarding some other recent discussions:

The word "bhakti" occurs in the Svetasvatara Upanishad.
The date for this varies depending on whom you ask.

The Alvars are not the first example of Vishnu bhakti
in the Tamil country. The paripaaDal and silappadikAram
contain lovely poems to Maal, who is none other than
Vishnu.  These texts refer to Vishnu bhakti in a rather
advanced state. My surmise is that the Tamil culture
provided a fertile ground for the simultaneous growth
of Jain, Buddhist, and Vaishnava bhakti, followed
shortly thereafter by Saiva bhakti.

Mani