Topic > The Pongal Festival in Tamil Culture

When you look deeply into the Pongal ritual, gender roles are represented by what is considered the ideal for a woman and a man to do. In other words, gender is a socially constructed perspective that portrays what is expected of the behavior, occupation, or roles of men and women. Hence, women tend to be thoughtful, kind and sensitive. When observing the harvest festival, women are seen doing household chores, such as cleaning and cooking. They lead the work that is done repetitively and spend most of their time at home taking care of children, the elderly or livestock. Compared to men, they are characterized as strong, courageous, independent, assertive and powerful individuals. Therefore, men's jobs are typically physically intensive. Men perform the agricultural work of plowing the land using bulls. Since bulls are very strong and powerful, they can be associated with men who must use their strength and power to overtake and control bulls. Therefore, men spend most of their time outside the home, on the land, plowing, collecting milk from other animals, and providing meat for the family. As a result, through their physical labor and labor, they help provide an income and a source of food for the family. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Furthermore, men are considered powerful individuals within their families, which indicates that Sri Lankan Tamils ​​live in a patriarchal society. This was demonstrated when the men had to spread uncooked rice around the neck of the pot. Since they are identified as leaders, they are expected to be the first individuals to participate in the ritual before other family members take part. Therefore, when comparing men and women, this society portrays women as subordinate. This is because women are considered weaker than men as they are expected to do less physically intensive work. From the labor and labor of men, women are able to use their efforts and provide food for the whole family. As a result, it shows that even if their work is contrary to each other, both women and men help benefit and support their family on a daily basis. Furthermore, through the symbolic actions performed within “Pongal”, it helps to showcase the worldview of the Tamils ​​on their land. Worldview is the ideal of how reality is based on the shared cultural assumptions of how one's society functions. Accordingly, symbolic actions are the activities carried out within a group of people for whom they have shared meanings that help them establish their worldview. The symbolic actions here include drawing the “kolam”, praying to the Sun and taking the “arathi” for the bull. Within these actions, Tamils ​​interact with the land, which illustrates the respect we give to our homestead. When making 'kolam', women have to create it on the ground in front of their houses using colored rice. As a result, when they interact with the land to create the pattern, they are able to build a connection to honor and welcome the gods, as well as to chase away evil spirits or what they call "evil pollution" away from home and land. This helps in creating purity in the house on an auspicious day when conducting a ritual. When praying to the Sun, Tamils ​​follow a face-down lying position with the forehead and hands touching the ground. Tamils ​​believe that we have a third eye on our forehead which is how we can connect to God. Therefore, when..