Kaanum Pongal or Kanum Pongal () is the fourth and the final day of the four-day Pongal festival. It is observed in the month of Thai according to the Tamil solar calendar and usually falls on 16 or 17 January. Though the name of the festival is specific to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, it is also celebrated in other southern Indian states such as

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

as the festival is significantly popular in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. The day of Kaanum Pongal is often acknowledged as the Thiruvalluvar Day in remembrance of the great historic Tamil writer, poet and philosopher

Thiruvalluvar Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the '' Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an e ...

who was known for writing the world famous

Thirukural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teaching ...

. The day is also popularly treated as the sightseeing day as well as the Thanksgiving day. People believe Kaanum Pongal is an auspicious day to arrange marriage proposals and to kick start new bonds and relationships.

Naming and celebrations

The word Kaanum means 'viewing and seeing'. Kaanum Pongal is the day of relaxation and enjoyment as it implies that people spend their time by arranging family trips, picnics, visiting neighbours and relatives houses. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, the festival is earmarked and celebrated as Mukkanuma and the auspicious festival is observed in Andhra by worshipping the cattle. In the state of Tamil Nadu, the day of Kanum Pongal is also referred to as Virgin Pongal or Kanni Pongal, the word Kanni implies virgin/maiden/unmarried girl. Unmarried girls celebrate the festival by playing in the water at the river banks and pray the god to have a very successful matrimonial life. Kanni Pongal is celebrated coinciding Kaanum Pongal for the wellbeing of unmarried women and for the fertility. Kaanum Pongal for women offer special prayers towards the Sun god for the wellbeing of their brothers and as per the customs and traditions, women visit the brothers places.

References

{{Reflist Tamil festivals January observances Food and drink festivals in India Festivals in Tamil Nadu Festivals in Andhra Pradesh Festivals in India Hindu festivals Harvest festivals Harvest festivals in India Hindu festivals in India Religious festivals in India