Tamil community celebrates new harvesting season |12 January 2008

According to a press release from the Seychelles Tamil Mandram, the organizers of the evening, two special invitees from Tamil Nadu, India will be here for the occasion, which is expected to be graced by the entire Tamil community and their friends in Seychelles.

The two guests are Professor M. Abdul Kadar and film director V. Sekar.
Professor Kadar is the head of the Tamil Department at the Vaaniyampadi College attached to the Madras University and is a globally popular writer of prose and poetry and has authored numerous books on Tamil literature and also a forceful orator.

Film director Sekar is a globally popular director of social reform films where he emphasizes on family values, child care, prevention of child abuse and is popular with the Tamil community in Seychelles who greatly appreciates his teledramas that are telecast by the SUN TV channel through the local Intelvision regularly.

Essentially rural, Pongal is a festival of thanksgiving to nature and is celebrated after the rich harvest of the grain. Sweet rice meal prepared from the newly harvested rice is offered to nature that has helped the farmer in all his toils on the land. The prayer and thanks are first offered to Surya, the Sun God, and the following day, to the cattle for their hard work in ploughing the fields and providing the manure.