Guests enjoy feast and performances at Maidenhead Tamil Pongal Vizha

More than 170 people enjoyed a feast and live entertainment at a harvest festival celebration hosted by the Maidenhead Tamils on Sunday.

Guests wore an array of brightly coloured traditional outfits as they attended Holyport War Memorial Hall for the annual Maidenhead Tamil Pongal Vizha.

The festival is celebrated each year by the Tamil community of Tamil Nadu in India and involves thanking farmers and nature for its produce.

Kasthuri Subramanian, one of the organisers of the event, alongside Sankari Suriya Narayanan and Thirumaran Chandrasekar, said: “This is the harvest festival for the Tamil community.

“This is kind of saying thanks to the farmers for providing us food and then also thanking nature.

“We have to pass this 5000-year-old culture to our children, so this is the way we do it.”

The event kicked off late morning with a traditional feast which saw an array of courses served on a banana leaf to be eaten by hand.

“It starts with the sweet [dish] and ends with the sweet [dish] as well,” Kasthuri added.

Rows of tables lined the hall as guests sat and enjoyed the food before the start of the afternoon’s live entertainment.

From around 2.15pm, it was time for guests to enjoy performances on the main stage.

The programme featured an array of performances including classical dance Bharatanatyam, Pongal drama, group dances, solo singers, folk dance Oyilattam, and a performance of Thirupugazh, an anthology of Tamil religious music.

Special guests Maidenhead MP Josh Reynolds, Royal Borough councillor Gurch Singh and Goyals managing director and Maidenhead & District Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Seema Goyal attended to enjoy the entertainment.

Organisers invited Seema on stage to give a speech to the crowd.

She was followed by Mr Reynolds who, dressed in a traditional outfit provided at the event, spoke of the importance of community and thanked organisers for the inviting him to the festival.

To round off the entertainment, guests were treated to a fashion show which showcased the traditional clothing of the Tamil culture.

As part of the festival, youngsters created artworks and models in the theme of the Pongal Vizha celebration, and these were on display on tables in front of the stage.

Seema was invited back onto the stage to hand out the prizes to all participants of the art competition.

The winner of the festival was Adityaram Kasiviswanathan.

Mr Reynolds and Cllr Singh then took to the stage to present prizes to all the dancers, singers and fashion show participants.

Sankari said: “I think it is a great opportunity for us to show our culture to the local MP and the councillor.”

Mr Reynolds said: “I really enjoyed the festival.

“It was great to be able to see so many members of our community in Maidenhead celebrating, being together and it’s fantastic to be able to share in that across Maidenhead and across our community.”

“We saw some fantastic performances today and that was really exciting to be able to see.

“Fantastic to be able to see the community in action.”

Reflecting on the event, Kasthuri added: “It was really, really good.”

A non-profit, community-run Maidenhead Tamil School currently operates in the town for anyone interested in learning the Tamil language.

For more information at: https://maidenheadtamilschool.co.uk/about-us/