SRI LANKA'S "THAI PONGAL" CELEBRATION!
This last week, Sri Lanka celebrated their annual Tamil harvest festival, Thai Pongal! The basic idea of Thai Pongal is that it is an annual blessing for harvest and expression of gratitude for many Hindu-based countries. It is also related to the Indian zodiac and solstice.
To learn about this special time of year, we looked at some basic facts:
- Sri Lanka is an island right below India. How do we get to an island? Can we walk or drive? We must fly, take a boat...or perhaps swim, if you're a superhuman!
- Thai Pongal is about bringing a blessing for future harvest and being thankful for what we have. Abundance, good luck and an offering for the future year are all important themes.
- "Kolam" are very beautiful and special designs drawn in front of houses (usually by the women of the house, very early in the morning) with colored rice, flours and spices. To simulate this idea in music class today, we used colored salt, which was very easy to make with just everyday salt and a few drops of food coloring. It was a neat sensory experience to draw designs in the salt and watch the colors blend!
- Cooking the "Pongal" dish is an important ritual. A pot holds rice and milk, which cooks until it "bubbles" over, traditionally.
Check out the pictures below to see the kids making their own "kolam" with salt. We also listened to traditional Sri Lankan music and looked at some pictures of kolam designs, as well as the Pongal dish of rice bubbling over in a clay pot!
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:
1) Did you remember from music that Sri Lanka is an island? How can you get to an island? Fly, go in a boat, or swim if it is close!
2) What bubbles over while it cooks in the pot for Thai Pongal? Rice!
3) How did you make "Kolam" designs in music class? What did you draw in? Colored salt!