Mattu Pongal, the day after Thai Pongal, is for the cattle. Cows and bullocks are washed, their horns painted and capped with brass, and garlands, bells and beads are hung round their necks. Pongal is cooked in the cattle shed and fed to them first. In the southern districts it is the season of jallikattu, and for Tamils the day is also Thiruvalluvar Day.
The story
A story told of the day has Shiva send his bull Nandi to tell people to bathe in oil daily and eat once a month. Nandi muddled the message into eating daily and bathing in oil once a month, and was sent down to earth to help grow the extra food.
Sisters keep Kanu Pidi on this morning: balls of coloured rice from the previous day are laid on turmeric leaves in the open for the crows, with a prayer for the well-being of their brothers.
சுழன்றும்ஏர்ப் பின்னது உலகம் அதனால் உழந்தும் உழவே தலை
Wherever it may wander, the world follows the plough; so, for all its hardship, farming is foremost
Tirukkural 1031
How the day goes
- Dressing the cattleHorns are painted in bright colours, and the animals are garlanded and marked with kumkum and turmeric.
- Pongal in the shedIt is cooked beside the animals and they are fed it with bananas and sugarcane.
- Kanu PidiWomen set out rice for the birds and ask for their brothers' long life.
- Jallikattu and manjuvirattuYoung men try to hold on to the hump of a bull released into a crowd; the contests at Alanganallur, Palamedu and Avaniyapuram are the best known.
- Kaanum PongalThe day after, families go visiting, to the beach, the river or a relative's house.
Why this date
Mattu Pongal is the second day of the solar month of Thai, the day after Thai Pongal: 15 or 16 January.
Mattu Pongal in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Thursday | |
| 2027 | Saturday | |
| 2028 | Sunday | |
| 2029 | Monday | |
| 2030 | Tuesday | |
| 2031 | Thursday |
More Tamil festivals
15 JanuaryThai Pongalதைப்பொங்கல்
14 JanuaryBhogiபோகி
23 JanuaryThai Pusamதைப்பூசம்
13 FebruaryRatha Saptamiரத சப்தமி
20 December 2026Vaikuntha Ekadasiவைகுண்ட ஏகாதசி
6 MarchMaha Shivaratriமகா சிவராத்திரி
Where to see Mattu Pongal
In Tamil Nadu
- AlanganallurTamil NaduThe most famous jallikattu arena, near Madurai, held in the days after Pongal.
- Brihadisvara Temple, ThanjavurTamil NaduThe great monolithic Nandi is decked for the day with vegetables, fruit and sweets by the tonne.
- Marina Beach, ChennaiTamil NaduWhere the city goes on Kaanum Pongal, by the hundred thousand.
Across India
- The Godavari deltaAndhra PradeshThe same day is Kanuma, with decorated cattle and the Prabhala Teertham.
- GovardhanUttar PradeshThe hill Krishna lifted to shelter the herds, the story the north tells for its cattle festival.
- MangaluruKarnatakaCoastal Karnataka's buffalo races, the Kambala, run through this season.