Lankans celebrate Thai Pongal in Washington

Sri Lankan Americans gathered at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC on 13 January to take part in Thai Pongal, the Tamil harvest festival that celebrates the sun, the fruits of the earth and the renewal of the spirit.

Guests filled the Embassy’s salon and dining room for the traditional celebration of giving thanks for the harvest. Swami Sivanatha Kurukkal offered stirring Hindu prayers and performed the lighting of the traditional oil lamp and the offering of Pongal to Lord Ganesh and deities.

The programme also featured a talk on ‘The Significance of Thai Pongal’ by J. Ranganthan, as well as devotional songs by Bajan, a musical group made up of Pradosh Desai, his daughter Shirali, Ernie Dharma and Hirmaransi Ranasinghe.

Thai Pongal was held in keeping with the tradition of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington, DC of celebrating the important religious festivals of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya noted the importance of agriculture and the closeness that Sri Lankans feel to the land. He also reported on efforts to renew the Northern Sri Lankan agricultural areas, and the government’s work to expand services and economic opportunity throughout all of Sri Lanka in the post-conflict environment.

“Today in Sri Lanka, we are seeing big changes that fit with the essence of Thai Pongal,” the Ambassador said. “Work in the north is being done to restore the land to full production and provide farmers with livelihoods that were interrupted by the conflict. De-mining continues and more and more land is being occupied. The Government is spending $1 billion annually to improve roads, bridges, rails lines, water systems, electricity and other public services. Perhaps most importantly, there have been no deaths or injuries due to terrorism in nearly three years since the conflict ended.

“Recently we received the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, an important step in the reconciliation campaign. The government announced earlier this week that it will implement the commission’s recommendations. I know some of you have travelled back to Sri Lanka and have witnessed the changes. You know from your own travels that the most important thing is that people feel safe and also free. This sort of progress is vital to reconciliation. Tai Pongal symbolises the importance of the earth and the gifts it has given us. It also reminds us of the importance of the gift of each other – our community. Working together, we can help those at home who are working hard to rebuild families, communities and lives.”

Thai Pongal is a Tamil holiday in Sri Lanka and India that recognises the harvest as a time to give thanks to the earth, the bounty it creates and the animals that work to produce the harvest. It is a time of renewal when personal differences are forgiven.