Writing about food and drink (selvam)

The most important food is ponggal is really a part of Indian Festival. The Tamil festival of Thai Ponggal is a thanks giving ceremony in which the farmers celebrate the event to thank the spirits of nature spirit, the Sun and the farm animals for their assistance in providing a successful harvest. The rice is cooked and prepared as a dish called ponggal, which is rice with dhal and sugar. This ponggal variety is called venponggal, ven meaning white. Another variety is also prepared with dhal and jaggery (sweet), called chakra ponggal, chakrai meaning sweet. Some Hindu scholars believe that the rice is ceremoniously cooked on the Thai Ponggal day because of its importance as a potent symbol of auspiciousness and fertility. The evenings are spent attending cultural events or visiting relatives and friends.