Wednesday 23 January 2019

Makar Sankranti Part 3 & last. - Sankranti means transit of Sun from one zodiac sign to other. Its significance.













On this big occasion of Makar Sankranti in India, which is a festive country.

Many mela or fairs are organised.   

Many mela or fairs are held on Makar Sankranti the most famous being the Kumbh mela. 

The Magha Mela (or mini-Kumbh Mela held annually at Prayag).

The Gangasagar Mela (held at the foot of the Ganga river, where it flows into the Bay of Bengal.  

Makar Mela in Odisha, Tusu Mela also called as Tusu Porab is celebrated in many parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Poush Mela is an annual fair and festival that takes place in Santinketan  in Birbhum district of West Bengal.


The festival or Makar Sankranti is celebrated for four days in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana:

Day 1– Bhoghi (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka). 
Day 2 – Makara Sankranti  the main festival day. 

Day 3 – Kanuma   (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). 

Day 4 — Mukkanuma (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana).



Special bhojanam (feast) are a part of Andhra tradition (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states).


The day preceding Makara Sankranti is called Bhoghi. 

This is when people discard old and derelict things and concentrate on new things causing change or transformation. 

At dawn, people light a bonfire with logs of wood, other solid fuels and wooden furniture that are no longer useful.

In Goa -         


Known as Sankrant in Goa and like in the rest of the country.

People distribute sweets in the form of granules of sugar-coated till pulses among family members and friends, with the words, Till gull gheiat, godd uloiat, meaning Eat seasame and jaggery and sweeten your talk.


12-day Haldi Kumkum festival begins on Makar Sankranti, married women celebrate the festival till Rath Saptmi

Married women visit each other's homes where the women apply Haladi (turmeric) and Kumkum (vermilion) to the foreheads of other women and put flowers in their hair, and offer them household gifts. 

Newly married women offer five sunghat or small clay pots with black beaded threads tied around them, to the deity. 

These pots are filled with newly harvested food grains and are offered with betel leaves and areca nut. 

Its observance takes place on a rather subdued note, unlike major festivals of the region like Ganesh Chaturthi.


In Assam – 


Magh Bihu (also called Bhogali Bihu  or Bihu.

Eating foods and enjoyment) or Maghar Domahi  is a harvest festival celebrated in Assam, which marks the end of harvesting season in the month of Magha (January–February). 

It is the Assam celebration of Makar Sankranti, with feasting lasting for a week. 

The festival is marked by feasts and bonfires.


Young people erect makeshift huts, known as Meji and Bhelaghar, from bamboo, leaves and thatch.

And in Bhelaghar they eat the food prepared for the feast, and then burn the huts the next morning. 

The celebrations also feature traditional Assamese games such as Tekeli Bhogna (pot-breaking) and buffalo fighting. 

During Magh Bihu people of Assam make cakes of rice with various names such as Shunga Pitha, Til Pitha etc. 

And some other sweets of coconut called Laru or Laskara.


In Bihar and Jharkhand, the festival is celebrated on 14–15 January.


On 15 January, it is celebrated as Makar Sankranti or Sakrat or Khichdi (in local dialects). 

As in other parts of country, people take baths in rivers and ponds and feast upon seasonal delicacies as a celebration of good harvest. 

The delicacies include chura, made of rice, gur made of sugarcane (jiggery), sweets made of til (sesame seeds) such as tilkut, Lai, tilwa, maska, etc., curd, milk and seasonal vegetables. 


Kite flying festivals are organised, albeit on a small scale.


On 15 January, it is celebrated as Makrat (in some parts of the state) when people relish special Khadi (dal-rice replete with cauliflower, peas and potatoes).


The festival is one of the most important. 

People start their day by worshiping and putting til (sesame seeds) into fire followed by eating "dahi-chuda", a dish made of beaten rice (chuda or poha, in Hindi, or avalakki, in Kannada) served with a larger serving of dahi (curd), with cooked kohada (red pumpkin) that is prepared specially with sugar and salt but no water. 

The meal is generally accompanied by tilkut and lai,Laddu made of til, chuda and rice). 

The festive meal is traditionally made by women in groups. 

Since the meal is heavy, lunch is generally skipped on the day and the time is, instead, spent on socializing and participating in kite flying festivals.


At night a special khichdi is made and served with its four traditional companions, "char yaar" (four friends) — chokha (roasted vegetable, especially Brinjal, Tomato and Potato), Papad, Ghee, Achar, Chokha (of baked Potato, Brinjal, Tomato). 

Since such a rich khichdi is generally made on this festival, the festival is often colloquially referred to as "Khichdi".

In Delhi and Haryana -


Kayastha community which have been building blocks of Delhi today and Other neighbouring rural communities like Yadavs, Jats.

Which mainly belong to Haryana and Punjab consider Sakraat or Sankranti to be a main festival of the year.  

Churma of ghee, halwa (made in ghee with carrot and milk) and kheer (made of rice and milk with sugar) are cooked specially in Jats and Yadavs homes on this day.


 One brother of every married woman visits her home with a gift of some warm clothing for her and her husband's family. 

It is called "Sidha". Women used to give a gift to their in-laws, and these rituals called "Manana". 

The recipient will sit in a haweli (main palace where men sit together and share hookka)

Women go to haweli to sing folk songs and give gifts.

In Gujarat -


Uttarayan, as Makar Sankranti is called in Gujarati, is a major festival in the state of Gujarat, which lasts for two days.


14 January is Uttarayan


15 January is Vasi - Uttarayan (Stale Uttarayan).


Gujarati people keenly await this festival to fly kites, called 'patang'. 

Kites for Uttarayan are made of special light-weight paper and bamboo and are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow. 

The string often contains abrasives to cut down other people's kites.


In Gujarat, from December through to Makar Sankranti, people start enjoying Uttarayan. 

Undhiyn (spicy, baked mix of winter vegetables) and chikkis (made from til (sesame seeds), peanuts and jiggery) are the special festival recipes savoured on this day.


In the major cities of Ahmadabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Jamnagar the skies appear filled with thousands upon thousands of kites as people enjoy two full days of Uttarayan on their terraces.



In Kerala -


Makar Sankranti is celebrated in Kerala at Sabarimala temple.

Where the Makar Jyoti  is visible followed by the Makaravilakku  celebrations.

In Uttarakhand -


In the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, Makar Sankranti is celebrated with great gusto. 

The Uttarayani fair is held in the month of January every year in Bageshwar

The religious ritual of the fair consists in bathing before daybreak at the confluence of Saryu and Gomati.  

After Bathing, an offering of water to Lord SHIVA   inside the Bagnath Temple is essential.


Those who are more religiously disposed, continue this practice for three days in succession, which is known as "Trimaghi".


In Maharashtra – 


On Makar Sankranti day people exchange multicoloured halwa (sugar granules coated in sugar syrup) and til-gul laadoo (sweetmeats made from sesame seeds and jiggery). 

Gulachi poli/puran poli (flat bread stuffed with soft/shredded jaggery mixed with toasted, ground til [white sesame seeds]) and some gram flour, which has been toasted to golden in pure ghee, are offered for lunch. 

While exchanging til-gul as tokens of goodwill people greet each other with the words til-gul ghyaa, aani goad-goad bola" meaning ‘Accept this til-gul (sweet) and utter sweet words’. 

The underlying thought in the exchange of til-gul is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends.

Odisha


The festival is known as Makar Sankranti in Odisha. 

Where people prepare makar chaula   (uncooked newly harvested rice, banana, coconut, Jiggery, Sesame, Rasgolla, Khai /Liaa and Chenna  puddings for naivedya to gods and goddesses.


The withdrawing winter entails a change in food habits and intake of nourishing and rich food. 

Therefore, this festival holds traditional cultural significance. 

It is astronomically important for devotees who worship the sun god at the great Konark temple with fervour and enthusiasm as the sun starts its annual swing northwards. 

According to various Indian calendars, the Sun's movement changes and the days from this day onwards become lengthier and warmer and so the Sun-God is worshiped on this day as a great benefactor. 

Many individuals at the start of the day perform a ritual bath while fasting.
                               The End.

  

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