Think of the Tamil culture, and one cannot get away without mentioning Pongal.
The Tamil Harvest festival is one of the most significant festivals for the Tamil community across the globe, and therefore Auckland Tamil Association celebrated it with great joy and zeal.
The event - Pongal Thiruvizha 2023 - was attended by special guests and around 300 members of the Kiwi-Tamil community. It occurred on Saturday, January 21, at the Mt. Eden War Memorial Hall and saw community members dressed up in traditional Tamil attire.
Former National Party MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi was the chief guest for the event and even launched revamped ATA website.
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“It was my pleasure to launch the revamped website of the Auckland Tamil Association at the Pongal Harvest celebrations. ATA organised competitions, including Rangoli, food and painting,” Bakshi posted on his social media account.
The celebrations began with cooking Pongal (a delicious South Indian festive dish) as an offering to God, followed by various competitions like traditional food cooking competition, Kolam (Rangoli) competition and children drawing competition, among others.
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The idea behind hosting the cooking competition was to get the community into the core of the Pongal festival- the way it is traditionally celebrated in India.
The participants of the Rangoli competition surprised everyone with some fantastic designs covering the spirit of Pongal and were applauded by everyone.
A delicious traditional Tamil lunch followed this.
The celebrations continued post lunch people where the guests were entertained with a “Pattimanram” Debate with an interesting topic – “What is more challenging for migrant Indians – Bringing up children or Acquiring wealth.” The debate called for some really interesting comments and opinions from either side of the team
There were also traditional Indian games like “Uri Adithal” and Kayaru Illuthal” – translating to Pinata and Tug of war competitions that kept the guests entertained.
ATA’s President, Vai Ravindran, too, seemed quite happy with the turnout and said, “It is a great time to review what we have accomplished as a community throughout the year and spend time with our ATA family. The event was well received, and participation was high among community members. We make it a point to celebrate all festivals irrespective of religion so our younger generation can experience different traditions cultivating religious harmony and peace.
“We are so humbled by the turnout and interest shown, and we can only wish good things to come in the future thanks to this event. Thank everyone for your gracious presence and for making this a memorable and colourful event.”
Adhi Balaji, a student from Singapore at Auckland University – who attended the event, said, "I was surprised to see the involvement and the celebrations conducted by Auckland Tamil Association. I am from Singapore and have never seen such extravagant celebrations in Singapore or India. I enjoyed the celebrations, and it also served as a great networking event.”
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