“Come on now, Ponni. Stay still for a moment, will you?” Farmer G Thangavel sighs as the five-month-old calf scuttles about the shed. He has brought her a marigold garland in view of Mattu Pongal and is trying to tie it around her neck. “She was expecting the bananas I fed her yesterday,” chuckles the 62-year-old, who finally succeeds after several attempts. Ponni’s mother Kaveri, although playful, accepts her garland without protest; so does the other six-month-old Kangayam bull, who Thangavel is yet to name.
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The harvest festival is the best time of the year for the farmer and his cattle. As the big day approaches, there is a bustle about farms across the State, and Thangavel’s four-acre field in Irugur near Coimbatore is no exception.
“Cattle form the base of agriculture,” says Thangavel, a fourth-generation farmer who runs his farm using organic, zero-waste practices. “Those of us who do not use chemicals, use cow dung and urine to make fertilisers,” he says. A farmer hence tends to his cattle like his own children. Maatu Pongal is their day. Their sheds are tidied up and they are given the customary bath early in the morning, followed by some dressing-up, according to the farmer’s taste.
Ponni has a field day
At Thangavel’s farm, festivities start at 3pm. “We make pongal in a mud pot by the cattle shed,” he says, adding: “Once this is ready, we start setting up the place to make the offering.” Thangavel explains that he creates a theppam using dung on the floor, which is a 2x3 feet rectangular canal-like structure into which he pours water.
- Tamil Nadu has five native breeds of cattle recognised by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources:
- Kangayam A sturdy draft animal of West Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem)
- Bargur A hill variety native to hills of the same name in Erode, raised by people from two particular tribal communities in the region
- Umbalachery A short breed found in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam
- Pulikulam Distributed in Madurai, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram. Known for their wild nature. The breed is popular in jallikattu.
- Alambadi The breed from Dharmapuri is quite rare, and is surviving with only a few females that are capable of breeding left.
- Theni hill cattle, although not recognised, is popular. It is raised under the pastoral system in which shepherds graze hundreds of cattle together, covering several kilometres on foot.
- Source: Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation
The offering consists of pongal, fruits, and coconut, and is placed near the theppam . “All of us at the farm gather around to pray,” he explains. Those tending to the cattle then take the lead. “They walk past the animals asking them to be ready for the feast,” he adds.
‘A Pongal makeover’
There is one other ritual he follows: “We make a rope out of mudakathan shoots (balloon vine), hold it out for a bull calf to cross,” he says. “This is a prayer; we do so hoping that the cattle, and hence the farmer, will overcome all barriers this year.” The animals are then set free. “They are free from farm responsibilities for four days,” smiles Thangavel.
Farmers go to great lengths to give their livestock a Pongal makeover. Some smear turmeric and sandalwood paste on their cattle and garland them, while others tie balloons around the animals’ horns. “I rub castor oil into their horns for their upkeep,” explains Thangavel.
Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, the managing trustee of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation at Kuttapalayam, 80 kilometres from Coimbatore, says that his cattle receive a coating of red soil on the horns, hump, and back. “They also get new ropes,” adds VM Parthasarathy, whose farm is located at Pandeshwaram, 34 kilometres from Chennai.
Some 10 years ago, Parthasarathy recalls how bulls, all decked up, would be lined up and sent on a run along the main village road. “The ones that came first would receive prizes,” he remembers. “People would gather by the village temple following this and sweets would be passed around.”
Organic farmer G Thangavel bathes his cow, bull, and calf, offers them a special diet, and garlands them for the harvest festival
The festivities are usually followed by a “community dinner”, according to Karthikeya. “Everyone gets together for a meal, irrespective of who they are,” he adds. “This meal is usually served on the leaf of the castor oil plant and consists of pongal with nattu sakkarai (country sugar).”
Meanwhile at Irugur, Ponni is still cross with Thangavel for not feeding her bananas. He sweet-talks her, and offers her mulberry leaves instead. “They are rich in protein,” Thangavel tells us, his eyes on the calf. She finally walks over to him and he wraps an arm around her neck. The embrace lasts just a fleeting second. Ponni grabs the leaves, pulls away from him and hop-skips towards her mother, her nose in the air.
