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Farmers worship cows on Mattu-Pongal
Coimbatore:
Farmers of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday worshipped cows
in a gesture of thanksgiving. It comes after a day
of the annual harvest festival, 'Pongal'. Known as
'Mattu-Pongal', the festival is celebrated to acknowledge
the importance of the cow to the farm sector. "The
country has a great tradition of celebration for man
and beast. And this is a great occasion when we have
Pongal that was celebrated yesterday and today, especially
for animals. Ancient days, cow was regarded as the
most sacred of animals and each cow is supposed to
have in it in each part the different devtas (deities).
So when you do puja (worship) for a cow, it is as
good as doing puja for all the Gods and Goddesses,"
said Krishna Swamy, organiser of a Mattu-Pongal ceremony.
The traditional ritual involves lining up 108 cows
in a cowshed and worshipping them. The cows are bathed,
painted in sacred colours and fed special jaggery,
sweetmeat and fodder. The cows are then herded through
a mud-track, to bless the land as the belief goes.
Several foreign tourists too joined the celebrations
across Tamil Nadu. "I visit India often and this is
my first time with the cow-puja celebration and I
really enjoyed enormously and participated in it.
I am now very respectful of the rituals of the Indian
tradition," said Eduardo Cardona, a Columbian tourist.
- Jan 16, 2007
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