300 foreigners to get a taste of Pongal in Keelamathur village near Madurai

MADURAI: The Madurai district administration has chosen Keelamathur village near Thuvariman to play host to foreign tourists during the upcoming Pongal festival. The yearly event, scheduled to take place on January 15, is being organised to help the foreign tourists enjoy an authentic village celebration, according to officials.


The event has been giving unique experience not only for the foreigners, who get to celebrate the Pongal festival in a traditional way, but also to the villagers. While the villagers celebrated the festival with their friends and relatives in the past years, this year it is going to be with foreign guests.

Tourism officials said an estimated 300 foreign tourists were expected to take part in the festival in the village. Domestic tourists can also join in the programme.

The village has been selected after a visit made by a team of officials. The village, situated on the banks of the Vaigai river, is surrounded by a large tract of fertile agricultural land. There are many temples in the village including an ancient Siva temple.

The foreigners would be welcomed in a traditional way by offering garland and ‘thilagam’. Tourist officials said the visitors would be taught how to prepare pongal. They would be served with the ghee wafting pongal, once it is ready and offered to the deity. There would also be cultural programmes like silambattam, karagattam and thappattam to entertain the visitors.

On January 17, the foreigners would be taken to Alanganallur to witness jallikattu. A source in the tourism department said last year foreigners could not be taken to Alanganallur due to certain issues. There would not be any such issue this year. District collector S Natarajan has given his consent for their visit to Alanganallur .

Those interested can enrol by visiting the Tourism Office in Mela Veli Street. The officials can also be contacted at touristofficemadurai@gmail.com or 0452-2334757.