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Pongal, Sankranti, and Lohri are three auspicious festivals that are celebrated in January. These are fervently and joyfully celebrated all over India. On this special day, families get together to beautifully and festively adorn their houses. People decorate their homes and prepare special dishes to share with friends and family, offering them tokens of respect, affection, and appreciation.
This Pongal, take your festivities to the next level with these creative ideas for home design, cuisine, and travel. Home decor can be elevated with traditional decorations and beautiful floral arrangements. Learn everything there is to know about the event and get ready to have a good time!
How is Pongal celebrated?
Pongal is the most important harvest celebration in Tamil Nadu. Pongal is the only holiday in the Indian calendar named after a sweetened rice dish. During Pongal, the décor pieces are generally “Green.” Green represents all harvest items such as banana leaves, mango leaves, sugarcane sticks, and so on. Sugarcane is mostly used for Pongal events and decorations. This is due to the fact that it is the primary harvest for this season. The bright green colour of these decorations is meant to signify abundance, fertility, and prosperity – all necessary components of a successful harvest.
A stem with five mango leaves is also considered sacred by Hindus. These leaves are commonly used to adorn the pot in which Pongal is made!
Traditional Pongal decorations include hanging Mango leaves at the entrance, creating a Rangoli (flower or coloured powder art) on the lawn, and serving meals on banana leaves. In traditional residences, three pots are stacked on top of each other, with overflowing rice to represent prosperity. All of these decorations are symbols of abundance, happiness, and prosperity.
Pongal: Home Interior Decorating Ideas
Not everyone lives in large bungalows with expansive gardens. Many city people live in flats in towns and cities. However, interior decorating may be just as appealing as outside decorating. Decorate your living space with long sugarcanes with leaves and clay pots that represent rice cooking with milk and jaggery. To celebrate Pongal, you don’t need a vast balcony or yard. All you need are the essential ingredients to enthusiastically adorn your house interiors. Additionally, you can draw vibrant kolams and decorate them with marigolds or any other colourful flowers to add a festive spirit.
- Rangolis: These also known as kolams are important ceremonies linked with Pongal. These classic and bright floor decorations will bring the holiday spirit into your home while bathing it in stunning colours and tones. Draw a large kolam/rangoli in front of your main door and a smaller one in front of your puja room. To give a festive touch to a Pongal-themed section of your home, draw a simple pot and sugarcane symbolic kolam.
- Leafy “Green” Decoration: Pongal is a celebration of prosperity; hence the dominant colour concept is green. Weaving mango leaves and hanging them on your front door is an essential Pongal ceremony. Mango leaves are auspicious and represent happiness. Invest in handmade paper decorations with green accents to give your home the perfect touch of Pongal. You might bring some long sugarcanes, place them in a triangle arrangement, and maintain some pots in the centre to stick with the most traditional decorations. Decorate three or more pots stacked on top of one another. These overflowing pans of rice, milk and jaggery will bring warmth and wealth into your households. Once the decorations are complete, it is customary to light an oil lamp.
- Decorating the Dining space: Pongal is famous for the dishes cooked on this auspicious day. Your dining table should be dressed for the occasion. Serve savoury dishes to your visitors on banana leaves. Snacks and desserts can also be presented on gold or silver-plated bowls or platters. Add diyas and magnificent eye-catching candle holders to your dining table to make it appear luxuriously festive. Place colourful flowers, vibrant table napkins and ornamental centre pieces to add extra charm to your table.
- House Painting: Festival is the ideal time to spruce up your home with wall painting, texture painting, or festive stencils. Painting the walls with vibrant paints and drawings is a very traditional way to brighten up your Pongal decoration. Two colour combination walls like green, yellow, white and red give a nice contrast and can add to the festive vibe. Decorative stencils are a great way to add special festive touches to your walls and furniture, they can be a creative and cost-effective way to brighten up your home during festivals.
- Pot Painting: The cooking delicacies are one of the most essential components of this occasion. As a result, the pot used in its cooking plays an important role. You may make your Pongal décor even more appealing by adorning it with paints and flowers. The brightly painted Pongal pots, along with the delightful aroma of sweet Pongal wafting through the air, add to the festive atmosphere.
- Light up the house: Hang multi-coloured string lights in each window to provide some brightness to your home. You may even group them together and store them in glass jars on window sills. String lights come in a variety of colours and styles, providing a fun and unique touch to any room. Diyas, or oil lamps, are also a great way to add a unique touch to your home.
- Colourful kites: During Pongal, children often fly kites. You may adorn your room with these kites. Choose the brightest colourful kites and hang them on the walls or behind your sofas to transform your area into a spectacular colour extravaganza. You may even have kites painted in your living room or children’s room to give a festive touch to your home. For a more unique look, you may even have kites of various shapes and sizes, creating a fun and vibrant atmosphere in your home.
Conclusion
Don’t overdo it, either! With limited living space, it is logical that we do not have the luxury of allowing Pongal decorations to take up as much area as they did in the past. As a result, there is an even greater need to keep the decorating minimal. Instead of hanging traditional decorations from the ceiling, the walls and the floor, it is best to focus on creating a festive atmosphere in a few select areas of the house.
Frequently asked questions
- What colour combinations are best for house painting for Pongal?
- Choosing the right colour combinations for our rooms is something everyone looks forward to when they paint their homes. This is an area where one is always looking for inspiration and guidance to make one’s home stand out. When it comes to house painting for Pongal, warm and vibrant colours such as yellow, orange and red are the best colour combinations. Our expert team will help you pick the right colour for the area of your house to be decorated.
- What varieties of flowers are used to decorate Pongal?
- The neck of the Pongal pot is decorated with strands of flowers like Koorapoo (mountain grass) and avarampoo, which are also tied at home doorways. Jasmine, marigold and malli (bluish-purple flowers) are the most popular flower choices for adorning the Pongal pot.