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Festivals of Pondicherry
At Pondicherry, life is a celebration. The people are easy and
happy-going. Every faith has a festival. And besides, Pondicherrians of
different origins and beliefs merrily gather together for public
festivals, all around the year.
Pongal
(January)
Pongal is the harvest festival for rural Pondicherrians. In this
festival, houses are spring-cleaned and adorned with intricate, colourful
patterns. Old clothes and mats are ritually burnt. The mouth-watering
Pongal dish is a pot-pourri of rice, jaggery, sugar and raisins, served in
new pots. Interestingly, herds of cattle are washed, decorated, their
horns painted and fed the Pongal dish. People dress up and visit each
other. There is no other busier day one can witness in the Park or the
Beach Road than this.
International Yoga Festival (4-7 January)
Yogis and Yoginis from the world over assemble in Pondicherry from the
4th to the 7th January every year. Through live shows and talks, through
the display and sample of the varied yogic food and through Indian dance
and music, they keep alive the art of yoga, its science and its
philosophy.
Maasi Nagam (March)
The Maasi Magam festival has been celebrated just north of the fishing
village at Kurichikuppam, for well over a century now. Deities from as
many as 38 temples are brought in a procession to Pondicherry and taken
around town to the loud accompaniment of 'Nadaswaram' (horns). Then, the
images of 'Chakra' (the discus - symbol of Vishnu) and the 'Trishul' (the
trident - symbol of Shiva) are chosen for ablutions in the sea.
Villianur Temple Car Festival (Mid-May & Mid-June)
On the full moon between mid-May and Mid-June falls the ninth day of a
ten-day festival. On this day temple car (vehicle) with the image of the
God is paraded around the town.
Veerampattinam Car Festival (August)
In this large fishing village near Ariankuppam a car, smaller than that
of Villiannur but with ornate sculptures, emerges from the temple at dawn
and returns at sunset. Be there at either time to experience the animated
crowds of devotees.
The Mangani Festival (July)
Karaikal
breaks into a month-long festivity, which accompanies this feast dedicated
to Karaikal Ammaiyar. When for 4 days, the groundbreaking events from her
life are reenacted. The image of Lord Shiva is taken out through the
streets, in a decorated palanquin, at which the townsfolk throw mangoes
from rooftops, much to the delight of the crowd gathered below.
Bastille Day (14 July)
On 14 July, Bastille Day, Pondicherry witnesses an Indo-French pageantry.
Uniformed war veterans march through the street singing 'Marseillaise'.
Heart-warmingly, the French flag can be seen flying alongside the Indian
flag on many housetops.
Fete De Pondicherry (15-17 August)
It's a cultural pageant, coinciding with the Liberation Day and the
Independence Day. The brilliantly lit Park Monument makes for a marvellous
sight. The fete features free evening cultural presentations at the
municipal theatre (Kamban Kalaiarangam) and Gandhi Square.
Vinayaka Chathurthi Period (September)
Vinayaka Chathurthi is the festival of India's most ubiquitous god,
Vinayaka (or Ganesha or 'Ganapati'), the elephant-headed elder son of
Shiva. Ganesha is among other things the remover of obstacles, found in
virtually all-Indian temples whether he is the principal deity or not.
In the week before the festival, people make and buy small clay images of
Vinayaka for installation in their homes. In other places, (notably Saram,
out Kamaraj Salai) people make very large images in an attempt to rival
Mumbai, the hub of this particular festival. For several days people feed
the god his favourite foods and treat him like the honoured guest he is.
On the Sunday after the first day of the festival (or on the Sunday after
that!) the larger images and lots of smaller ones are loaded onto bullock
carts, trucks and tractor-drawn carts for a parade down Beach Road where
the smaller images are immersed into the sea by boys who get the one rupee
coin set into the image for their effort.
Men, covered with coloured powder and attitude, dance and revel along the
parade route. The largest images are immersed from the new wharf near Sea
Gulls Restaurant from where one can comfortably watch as cranes delicately
lift the images amid chanting crowds.
Ayudha Puja (October)
Also known As Saraswati Puja, this date marks the end of Navaratri, the
nine-day festival of Goddesses, Durga (warrior righteousness), Lakshmi
(prosperity), and Saraswati (knowledge & the arts).
Gourds reddened with vermilion powder are broken, banana leaves are
installed and all forms of implements and equipment (including cars and
motorcycles) are given a puja so they'll work well over the next year.
The next day Vijaydashmi is given over to the Goddess Durga, the warrior
aspect of the Divine Mother, who, armed by all the Gods, defeated
Mahishasura. But Most Pondecherians go on celebrating the Goddess in her
Saraswati aspect. Many households display mostly painted ceramic dolls
('Kolu') which are sold in great profusion in the entrance hall and in
front of the Perumal Temple on M. G. Road in the week leading up to the
festival.
Deepavali Or Diwali (October - November)
The new moon between mid-October and mid-November sees the Festival of
Light, marking the triumph of Good over Evil but manifesting publicly as
the festival of Firecrackers. The crackers come in great variety of
sparklers, spinners, rocket balls and sprays. Most urban Pondicherians
consider Deepavali their biggest festival.
Christmas Season (December)
The Christmas is season is a quiet one. Shops and houses are hung with
perforated star lanterns that aren't much to look at, but illuminated from
within, create both radiant shapes and warm moving patterns on surrounding
surfaces. It is worth cycling around to see them in the evenings in the
lead up to and during the 12 days of Christmas through 6th January.