Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/36

20 Hindu Raja gives away large sums in charity. An assembly of Pandits sits on this day in Baroda, and grants rewards to the Hindu scholars who have passed examinations in the several departments of the Vedas, Tarka, Vyakarana, etc., of the Sanskrit language. Other Native Courts also observe the same custom. The season for marriages in Hindu households also commences on this day and lasts for six months up to the end of the Uttarayana—the whole of the summer solstice. The brides for the year get their presents on the Sankranti day and these are called the Sankranti Siru. They consist generally of new cloths, one or two ornaments and vessels and also sugar-canes, molasses, oil, ghee, etc. The Sankranti is also the day of the year in which all the old earthen utensils of a Hindu household are replaced by new ones. The pongal—boiled rice—itself must be cooked in a new pot.

The day after the Pongal is called the Mattupongal feast, or the feast in honour of the cattle. On this day all the cows, bullocks, buffaloes and horses in a Hindu household are well washed and decorated. They are also