Jaffna was quiet the night before Thai Pongal: shops closed early, streets emptied and restaurants shuttered. Strolling through the silent lanes, one could get the idea that the city had been deserted.
But just after sundown the fireworks began, literally. Groups of teenage boys flitted in and out of alleys equipped with sparklers and small firecrackers, setting up their gear and then fleeing the scene with big smiles plastered across their faces. Loud popping sounds would follow them, and pedestrians, startled at first, flashed knowing grins.
Older men idling in the streets seemed unperturbed, but didn’t hesitate to playfully reprimand the children.
“Get out of here with that, you kids,” A. Ramachandran, a mechanic, said sarcastically.
The children, however, would not be stopped.
“This is one of the only times when we get to set off firecrackers. My parents don’t like that I do this, but it’s a lot of fun, and we only do it rarely,” said R. Srinivasan, a 16-year-old from Jaffna. He confessed that he and his group of friends had been saving up in order to buy more firecrackers than they did last year.
“We are just celebrating the new year. Our way of celebrating and giving thanks for the harvest is setting these off,” he said.
As the night progressed, the bangs intensified and the choruses of booming reports punctuated my sleep.
The next day, I awoke early and walked down to Cargill’s Square, one of Jaffna’s main business hubs, and was greeted by groups of people standing outside of their houses, businesses and places of work. They were cooking Pongal, a traditional dish of rice, green gram, cashews, raisins, and jaggery and had set up elaborate decorations.
Outside a bank, a group of adults sat cooking and chatting, inviting passersby to partake in their Pongal.
“Today we are saying thank you to the sun, for without the sun nothing would grow,” said N. Nirmalan, the manager of a bank branch.
“I am celebrating with my employees. We have been here since 6:30 in the morning, and we will be here until 10:30. It is nice to celebrate with co-workers and to start the New Year auspiciously,” he added.
Nirmalan said that he would visit his relatives and friends in the afternoon and evening.
Like most holidays, Thai Pongal allows people to celebrate in their own specific ways. While Nirmalan was intent on thanking his employees for their good work before rejoicing with his family, others chose to review how far their communities have come in the past seven-plus years.
“This year I am giving thanks for the progress we have made. Now we can live happy and freely without so much worry. I am most thankful for the ability to be more care-free,” said V. Balakrishnan, an employee at a local NGO.
Though Thai Pongal has been celebrated for hundreds, if not thousands of years, some respondents mentioned that the holiday was slowly evolving.
“When I was young, we used to play all sorts of games on Thai Pongal. I would meet my friends and play for hours. We used to celebrate at community level, where entire villages would get together and give thanks,” said N. Devar, an employee at a local restaurant.
“A lot of our celebrations used to be centered around temples with both friends and family. Now, though, many of the festivities have moved into the home and people are more likely to rejoice only with their families. We also don’t play the same games. I preferred the earlier times,” he continued, while adding that, to his knowledge, the community-based celebrations are still taking place in Mullaitivu and surrounding areas.
When asked if these statements were true, S. Yogeswaran, a business-owner, largely concurred:
“We faced a lot of problems during the conflict in this area. Many people were missing from the festivities, so we took strength from one another and celebrated as communities. Since the war ended, however, I think it is true that many are choosing to spend the holiday with their families instead.”
Though many reported this pronounced change in Pongal celebrations, there were still many people spending the day outside their homes.
On the way to Point Pedro, countless Kovils were filled to capacity, as people did their best to force themselves inside for the traditional midday Puja.
“Each and every year I come to this temple on Thai Pongal. But, it is true that many of the younger people don’t come to the Kovils as much,” said M. Thondaman, a widow.
“I would like to see the next generation keeping the traditions alive, but perhaps that will not happen,” she continued.
Kite Festival
Though the jury is still out on the degree to which the Thai Pongal celebrations are changing, one stark example of pronounced development lay in the massive gathering on the Valvettithurai beach for a kite-flying competition.
Due to the substantial crowds, parking lots were jam-packed, and many had to walk over a kilometer to the competition venue. Along the way, food trucks and stalls served up piping hot noodles, refreshing ice cream, and spicy chickpea salads.
Several merchants hawked jewelry, clothing, and kites, enticing the visitors to spend their Pongal spending money. Once on the beach, various advertisements and flags flying the names of sponsoring companies greeted the crowds, who hailed from all over the Jaffna area.
Some opted to dip their feet in the ocean, but the vast majority perched themselves on the sand in order to win a prime view of the intricate kites.
Though the main award would go to the kite that stayed aloft for the longest period of time, perhaps more exciting was seeing the various creative three-dimensional kites that were tossed into the sky. A few of the more noteworthy were a tractor complete with four rotating wheels, a pirate ship with many sails, an airplane, a green battle tank, and a 20-foot long yellow lizard.
Each time the organizers launched a kite, a bemused murmur would trickle from the crowd and an announcer on a loudspeaker would describe the next kite that would be flown.
“Flying kites is an essential aspect of celebrating Pongal, but this event is only a couple of years old. It is fun to get people together like this and celebrate with the kites. My kids are having a great time,” said N. Subramaniam, a laborer from Point Pedro.
“For us, these types of events are like getting back to normalcy, or a new normalcy,” he continued.
The celebration at Valvettithurai represents not only a changing Pongal celebration, but also a changing Jaffna Peninsula.
The threat of violence and especially sustained violence, makes it almost impossible to hold public gatherings with many people. As the Jaffna area develops, people are resettled and the military continues to release land, it appears as though these large celebrations will only become more prevalent.
Instead of concentrating on the celebrations in the home or at village level, these fairs allow the greater community to meet and connect. The Valvettithurai gathering was easily the newest and most modern aspect of the Thai Pongal celebrations and allows one to envision a more developed, connected future for those living in the areas most affected by the civil conflict.
*Some names have been changed to protect the identity of the person.
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