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Spirit of Sankranti
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While the sky gets dotted with kites, the earth is adorned with `muthyala muggulu'
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Tradition meets modernity: Young girls decorate their courtyard for Sankranti — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
SANKRANTI IS perhaps the only festival with amazing colour and vibrancy, and also varied in terms of celebrations. Spread over three days - Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanumu - the festivities mark Sun's northward journey called "Uttarayanam".
Celebrated also as Pongal, harvest is brought home, the new rice is then boiled in milk to make the sweet called chakkerapongali, the special cuisine of the festival.
Another attractive feature of Sankranti is Gobbemmalu - young girls make round balls of cow dung called gobbis that are decorated with vermilion, turmeric and flowers, and place them in the middle of the bright muggus in the front yards. After nava dhanya puja, the women folk gather to sing and dance around these gobbis.
Many a traditional folk form add glory to the festive scenario. Haridasulu will be seen singing and seeking alms from the people. Gangireddu aata, is another festive attraction where trained oxen dance to the tunes of the Nadaswaram played by their master.
One month preceding Sankranti is called Dhanurmasam and is also an auspicious period. People wake up early, complete their morning ablutions and go around the streets singing devotional songs. Houses are whitewashed and farmers clean their warehouses. Colourful muggulu are drawn in the front of the houses during this month.
A special attraction in the Telugu households is the bommala koluvu where different dolls, toys, idols are arranged in an attractive manner for the neighbouring women to come and admire during the koluvu perantam, on all three days. The evenings are dedicated to perantams which sees gathering of women in different houses - in fact, they flock from one house to the other to bless the children, especially on Bhogi for the bhogi pallu ceremony where children below five are seated in a chair while women pour bhogi pallu (comprising petals of marigold flowers, `regu' fruits and coins) on their heads to ward off the evil.
Changing times and increasing urbanisation notwithstanding, festivals like this, connect us to our traditions and roots. Get set for Sankranti sambaralu!
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