SINGAPORE, Jan 16, 2002: Singapore Hindus of South Indian origin started celebrating the Pongal harvest festival on Monday, thanking the Sun god, Surya, for a good harvest. Celebrations here usually last for four days. On the first day, Pongal rice, a sweet dish of rice boiled with milk, ghee and raw cane sugar, is prepared. Letting it boil over toward the east signifies prosperity, success and happiness. As the milk bubbled over the earthen pots, the devotees cried: ‘Pongal, O Pongal!’ Pongal also begins the Hindu calendar’s auspicious month of Thai.
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