Known as 'Mattu-Pongal', the festival is celebrated to acknowledge the importance of the cow to the farm sector.

"The country has a great tradition of celebration for man and beast. And this is a great occasion when we have Pongal that was celebrated yesterday and today, especially for animals. Ancient days, cow was regarded as the most sacred of animals and each cow is supposed to have in it in each part the different devtas (deities). So when you do puja (worship) for a cow, it is as good as doing puja for all the Gods and Goddesses," said Krishna Swamy, organiser of a Mattu-Pongal ceremony.

The traditional ritual involves lining up 108 cows in a cowshed and worshipping them. The cows are bathed, painted in sacred colours and fed special jaggery, sweetmeat and fodder.

The cows are then herded through a mud-track, to bless the land as the belief goes.

Several foreign tourists too joined the celebrations across Tamil Nadu.

"I visit India often and this is my first time with the cow-puja celebration and I really enjoyed enormously and participated in it. I am now very respectful of the rituals of the Indian tradition," said Eduardo Cardona, a Columbian tourist.