The Tamil Community celebrated the end of the harvest in a traditional manner.Tamils are an ethnic group from Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India and the north east region of Sri Lanka. Around 85 Tamil families presently live in Gloucester.
Regi Kanth organises weekly meetings at Holy Trinity Church, the first one of the year was last Sunday with the colouful Pongol Cremony.
The festival s similar to a harvest festival, with food made from milk, water, peanuts and rice to make a sweet concoction, which is shared around. The cooking pot sits on a cloth on the floor, which is symbolically bordered with flour. A feel of Tamil surroundings is promoted by traditional music, essences of Tamil origin from joss sticks and the company wearing traditional costume.
At the weekly meetings the children get to learn Tamil language, enabling them to communicate better with their grandparents and other family. Dance teacher, Raji Wicky, said that the children pick up the language very quickly. Navageetha Murugandy sressed the importance of teaching the children about their culture
