Māṭṭu Poṅkal, the third day of the Poṅkal festival, is set aside to thank the cattle whose labour sustains farming life. Working bulls and cows are bathed and garlanded, their horns are painted, and they are fed the festival Poṅkal before the family eats. Tradition traces the custom to Śiva's bull Basava, or Nandi, sent to plough the earth forever after garbling Śiva's message to mortals. In parts of Tamil Nadu the day also brings jallikattu, the bull-taming sport. How the day is fixed: Māṭṭu Poṅkal falls on the second civil day of the Tai solar month, the day after Tai Poṅkal. Keep in mind: The Tai month begins with the Sun's entry into Makara, so Māṭṭu Poṅkal always follows Tai Poṅkal by one day. Kanuma in the Telugu lands falls on the same day. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Honouring the cattle: Cattle are bathed, their horns are painted in bright colours and sometimes gilded, and bells and garlands of flowers or beads are tied around their necks. Their foreheads are marked with turmeric and kumkum. Feeding the Poṅkal: Poṅkal is cooked in front of the cattle shed and fed to the animals with jaggery, bananas and sugarcane before the family eats. In many villages the decorated cattle are led through the streets in the evening. Jallikattu: In villages of southern Tamil Nadu young men try to hold on to a released bull's hump for a set distance or time, in regional forms such as vaṭi viraṭṭu, vēḷi viraṭṭu and vaṭam mañcuvirattu. The sport is attested in Sangam-era literature and rock art, and after a Supreme Court ban over animal welfare it resumed under a legislative exemption. Worth remembering: Māṭṭu Poṅkal is the Tamil cattle day that follows Tai Poṅkal. Kanuma in the Telugu lands falls on the same day, while Karnataka's kiccu hāyisuvudu is held on Saṅkrānti evening and Maharashtra's Bail Poḷā comes in Śrāvaṇa or Bhādrapada. Custom differs from village to village and house to house. Some families feed the cattle first at the shed, others parade them through the streets in the evening, and in the southern districts the day belongs to jallikattu. Whatever the local practice, the surest guide is what the elders of one's own house have followed.
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