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Chettinad nadu veetu kolam, Chettinad pongal kolam, Chettinad style pongal, Chettinad style pongal celebration, how to put nadu veetu kolam, nadu veetu kolam, pongal celebration, pongal kolam, pongal preparation in open space
Happy Pongal/Makara Sankranthi/Lohri to everyone. For Tamilians pongal is another major festival. I love this time of the year, never missed being at home with grandparents for pongal. For the past 2 years after marriage , I am away from them and miss them badly. Pongal brings us lots of excitement, starting with pongal kolam, preparation of pongal, offering to sun god, etc etc…. There is a slight difference in the way pongal celebration is done in my in laws place and my mom’s place. From my mom’s side it is quite hectic and in- laws way of celebration is a little simpler. I have to follow my inlaws way of celebration 🙂
One work that I totally love is the pongal kolam/rangoli that we put in the front yard of our home. This is the way we chettiars prepare pongal. This kolam is not done with the regular rangoli powder, instead we use raw rice paste. It stays for a week, if we don’t disturb it. Me and my grandma we used to do this on the evening of the day before pongal. Some pictures from my archive on how we do it at my hometown. Pongal is usually done in pongal panai in both my in laws and my mom’s place and not in pressure cooker. I follow that method. Will post this way of preparation soon.
In my in laws place, we make Sakkarai pongal, velai pongal. Kathirikai puli kuzhambhu, paruppu masiyal. Then we have parangikai, vazhakkai, avarakkai, sakaravali kizhanghu uppu poriyal.
In my mom’s place, we make sakkarai pongal, velai pongal. Kathirikai puli kuzhambhu, paruppu masiyal, palakai kootu, karunaikizhangu kuzhambhu. Then parangikai, vazhakkai, avarakai, sakarvali kizhanghu proiyal.
Usually at my hometown, after preparing all these, we make an offering to the sun god. Which is usually done at the front yard where we have some space. Then bring it to the pooja room and there we have one more kolam called nadu veetu kolam. We place these offerings on top of this kolam and pray. Then we happily eat them 🙂
Since we don’t have open space and it’s all carpet in my apartments here in US, I have planned to just do the nadu veetu kolam in our coffee table 😉 and do the offering to god. This is how it is.
Here is my preparation for tomorrow’s pongal 🙂
Julie is HostessAtHeart said:
Beautiful work. Enjoy your celebration Malar.
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Malar said:
Thanks Julie 🙂
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simplyvegetarian777 said:
To you too 🙂
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Tasty Eats Ronit Penso said:
Such delicate work of art! Wonderful tradition.
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Malar said:
Thank you very much!!!
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srividhya said:
Wow.. Love your chetinad version of celebration. Great work Malar. Happy pongal to you too.
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Malar said:
Thanks Sri 🙂
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srividhya said:
Also Malar loved this non-recipe post of yours. Its great to share these traditional methods.. Loved it 🙂
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Malar said:
Inspired from you Sri 🙂
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srividhya said:
He he he.. (blushing)
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Malar said:
🙂
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lapetitepaniere said:
Have a wonderful Pongal with your family, Malar 🙂
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Malar said:
Thanks Linda 🙂
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apsara said:
Happy pongal to you, Malar! Beautiful kolams! Lovely preparatthefunction function.
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Malar said:
Thanks Apsara 🙂
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Ashok said:
Pongal valthugal, Malar. Nicely detailed celebrations list. The archive kolam is an work of art, it would have taken lot of effort, time, patience 😊 palakai kottu? You mean jackfruit?
Nice workaround of using table for kolam.. It’s good you don’t want to leave the customs despite being challenged by circumstances. Pongal paanai looks wonderful with graciously drawn rice paste flowers. Enjoy the festive days, Malar.
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Malar said:
Pongal Vazhtukkal to you too anna 🙂 Yeah just remembering home very much and missing everyone around made me post this 😉 Yes anna, that would almost take 2 1/2 to 3 hrs to complete the big one. Grandma is an expert who can finish in 1 hr 🙂 Yes it jackfruit the raw one. Thank you very much and you too have a great time 🙂
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Elaine @ foodbod said:
Thank you so much for sharing this, Pongal is completely new to me. Have a great time xx
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Malar said:
My pleasure Elaine 🙂 Thanks!!
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Saba-Thambi said:
Happy Thai Pongal – you writing brings me a lot of childhood memories of Jaffna.
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Malar said:
Thank you, wish you the same. I am so glad I could bring some old memories for many friends 🙂
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Saravana Kumar NE said:
Happy Pongal Malar…………………….. your posting recalled all my earlier days, how we use to celebrate pongal with my mom……………
Regards, Saravana.
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Malar said:
Happy Pongal Saravana 🙂 Hope all of your are doing great…
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sathyapriya said:
I thought of writing a post but u just got it before me..Loved all the kolams ,,Really chettinad kolam rocks ..
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Malar said:
Thanks Sathya, yeah chettinad kolam rocks 🙂
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The Experimental Baker-HomeMaker said:
Such a great job, Malar. What did you use to paint on stainless steel? Looks so pretty. I want to try it next yr!
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The Experimental Baker-HomeMaker said:
And a very happy pongal to you too!
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Malar said:
Thank you very much, I have just used raw rice powder paste one portion for white color and one portion raw rice powder paste mixed with turmeric for yellow color. Do give it a try next year 🙂
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Traditionally Modern Food said:
Great post dear:-) glad to see the way you guys celebrate pongal.. Nice kolam
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Malar said:
Thanks dear 🙂
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Chitra Jagadish said:
Wow love your chetinad style of celebration. .. kolam looks stunning… amazing post… thanx to r sharing with us. .. happy Pongal. .. 🙂
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Malar said:
Thanks Chitra, same to you 🙂
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coconutcraze said:
Happy Pongal, Malar! That is such an elaborate kolam! I love the way you celebrate it. Back home, I used to enjoy Pongal and this brings fond memories of childhood!
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Malar said:
I am so glad , this could bring in memories for many friends 🙂 Hope you had a great Pongal this year 🙂
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Chhapan Bhog said:
Amazing Post.. Love the charm and spirit of festival… 🙂
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Malar said:
Thanks Shikha 🙂
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Charanya said:
That’s awesome how you celebrate Pongal
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Malar said:
🙂 Thanks Charu ❤
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