Pongal in Europe : Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark

Britain has more than 300,000 Tamils. France has more than 60,000 Tamils from Pondicherry. Germany has well over 50,000 Tamils and more than half of them went as refugees from Sri Lanka. Italy has about 25,000 Tamils, and Switzerland has about 40,000 Tamils. Denmark has over 7,000 Tamils the majority, being refugees. There are two well-patronized Hindu temples - one for Vinayagar and another for Abhirami - and the Tamil population has got well adapted to the Danish environment.

Pongal Celebration In These Countries
In Britain and France many Hindu temples are serving the Tamil community well religiously and culturally, by organizing the Pongal celebration. In Germany, religious fervour among the Tamils get intensified during the Pongal Celebration. Although Tamils are well entrenched in these country and integrated with the local community, yet they are actively alive to their Hindu religious and Tamil cultural links by organizing Pongal celebration at a single place. Other than that, during Pongal, temples draw a large number of the Tamil diaspora from all European countries, so much so that it becomes the nerve centre of Tamil cultural activism.