Crowds gathered in Little India yesterday to celebrate Pongal, a harvest festival that is typically observed by the Tamil community. Pongal is both the name of the festival and its signature dish - a sweet mixture of milk and rice cooked over fire in a large earthenware pot. Having the mixture boil over is considered a symbol of abundance and prosperity. Today, cattle at a mini-farm in Hastings Road will be garlanded and thanksgiving prayers offered to honour the animals that plough the fields and bring in the harvest.