Animals enjoyed a thanksgiving festival for horses, cows and other farm animals in South India on Saturday 15 January.

Video shot in Sirumalai Dindugal district of Tamil Nadu state, shows horses being bathed, decorated with garlands of flowers and fed plates of food for the Pongal festival.

The event is a thanksgiving festival for farm animals that help humans to cultivate crops.

Residents feed the animals pongal -- a sweet dish with rice and lentils -- to thank them for their work, including helping residents access their hilly village that has no road access.

On the festival day, horses are allowed to graze without being made to do any work. They are also taken on a procession around the village.

Love and devotion are the same even to animals, said a villager.

The Thanksgiving festival for horses is celebrated in a grand manner in South India.

Location: Sirumalai Dindugal district of Tamilnadu state in South India

Pongal festival is a thanksgiving festival for the farm animals that helped humans to cultivate crops. Cows and other farm animals are bathed, decorated , worshipped and fed with their favourites on this day as a mark of celebrating their efforts that helped the farmers to cultivate crops. This hilly village in South India celebrates pongal(A sweet dish with rice and lentils are made and offered to farm animals) festival by honouring the horses that helped them to carry the farm products. There is no road access to the farmlands in the hill villages. One has to go on a single track full of ravines. Thus horses are increasingly used in the mountain trails to transport inputs for agriculture and to bring in harvested crops. Thus, the Kudiraippongal (Horse)festival is celebrated annually in the hill station of Village as a way of thanking the horse for helping them to farm.

These horses are led freely to graze without doing any work on this day. They are also taken in a procession. Love and devotion are the same even to animals, says a villager of this hilly terrain.