KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wishes Happy Pongal to the Tamil community in Malaysia.

He said the four-day harvest festival is one of the most significant cultural celebrations for the Tamil community aimed at expressing gratitude and preparing for a new cycle.

"I sincerely hope that the Tamil community in Malaysia can celebrate it with joy and happiness, enhancing good values and strengthening diversity as the root and strength of the nation,” he said in his social media post on Monday (Jan 15).

The festival is celebrated in the 10th month of the Tamil calendar, Thai, with families rising early to prepare the iconic sweet rice dish, Pongal, for relatives and friends as a gratitude and hope for prosperity and abundance of the harvest.