Makar Sankranti Festival | Pongal – Time for a Fresh Start

Hey Mamas , Today is Sankranti festival in India. Mahar Sankranti is celebrated by Indians across the world in different names Bhogi,Pongal,Bhi,Lohri etc . This is a good chance to teach kids about different traditions and culture . We celebrate festivals to discipline humans . There is always a good lesson hidden in all the Indian festivals . Check out my today’s post about celebrations to teach children a good life lesson.

My daughter Lucky is so excited to wear Indian traditional dress today . I will post pictures of our today’s costumes and table spread later in the evening . 🙂 🙂 We love festivals .. One should never forget their root,culture and traditions wherever we put up in this beautiful World . I’d love to see pictures,posts,write up,links about all your festive celebrations .Please take out time to share your festival pictures and links of your celebrations . Please drop it in the comments below.

Bhogi is the first day of four days Sankranthi celebrations in India.

 On Bhogi, people discard old and derelict things and concentrate on new things causing change or transformation.The theme of Bhogi festival is to throw away and burn old and unwanted stuffs to bring in spiritual bhogam(prosperity) into our house and heart .

On Bhogi day we not only remove unwanted things from our houses, remove unwanted /negative thoughts,emotions and negative people from you & your life . It will make you a #NewYou ..It will help to transform your life . This is a time to reborn as a new person . Time to change your bad attitudes & habits . Just change one bad habit Big or Small !
Remove the old and give space for new beautiful things in life After all its one life which is short Live a happy and positive one .  

The history behind the word ‘Bhogi’ has too many accounts. The widely reckoned etymology to the word ‘Bhogi’ is that the word ‘Bhogam’ entails ‘receiving pleasure from divinity’ and the day offering that divine pleasure is named after ‘Bhogi’.  Another legend accounts that Bhogi Pandigai is celebrated in the name of Lord Indhra (god of rain and thunderstorms).

The celebrations of Bhogi Pandigai usually start early in the morning where homes are usually cleaned and washed. Subsequently, women and girls decorate the houses with beautiful kolam (rangoli) drawn out of rice flour and kaavi (red-oxide). People take head baths on this day as a part of the Bhogi festival celebrations..

 

(Are you wondering what’s so colorful in the above picture?! This Kolam/Rangoli.. Women and girl kids draw this colorful Rangoli on the main entrance of every house during festival times . It improves their creativity,colors brings peace to heart and soul.)The next step is performing pujas and offering ‘Bholi’ (battercake with lentil or coconut filling prepared with jaggery) to the almighty as ‘naivedhyam’ (food offered to god as a part of ritual). Later people assemble to light up a large outdoor fire to burn old and unwanted stuffs.Bhogi Pandigai is also celebrated in Andhra Pradesh in a grand manner on the same day as ‘Bhogi’ and as ‘Lohri’ in Punjab and ‘Magh Bihu/Bhogali Bihu’ in Assam.A very delicious and rich meal is prepared and served on plantain leaf on this day .

Pongal O’ Pongal: More than a Harvest Festival

 

Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God. This is the second day of Sankranthi celebrations. Pongal usually means festivity or celebration; more specifically Pongal is translated as “boiling over” or “overflow.” Pongal is also the name of a sweetened dish of rice boiled with lentils that are ritually consumed on this day. Symbolically, Pongal signifies the gradual heating of the earth as the Sun travels northward toward the equinox.

In this season, you should get rid of all the unnecessary things in your life and begin life afresh. You should make this cleanup an annual event. Even if some cleaning up is done on a daily basis, a few things pile up here and there without you being conscious about it. This piling up is not only of material things in our homes. Also in our minds , in our emotions , in our bodies, and in our consciousness, things pile up. This is the time to clean that up and start afresh in the coming spring, as spring is the best time to start life..

Pongal day is consider as new beginning of all good things. It marks the end of winter . Also it is the festival to respect farmers .

 

(Are you wondering looking at the above picture?! This is a pot with pongal which is the main dish on this festival.This is a Yummy Sweet in a colorful clay pot 🙂 , Food crops and Sugar cane. Since it is the harvest festival food plays the major role . In our agricultural country Rice and wheat are the major food crops)

Makar Sankranti is also called as Kite festival . Kids enjoy flying colorful kites .

Mattu Pongal is the third day and includes worshiping cattle because it is believed that cattle help give a good harvest. This is in recognition of the importance of cattle to the agrarian community. They are also regarded as sacred animals. The cows are given a good bath and a thorough scrub. They are then adorned and decorated with garlands around their necks and kumkum on their horns and foreheads. They are not given any work on that day and are allowed to graze without much restraint. Ceremonial boiled rice is offered with sweets and sugar cane.

The fourth day is called Kanum or Kani Pongal, which is when many people go on picnic and spend time with families and friends. The Pongal festival also includes exchanging gifts, dancing, and buffalo-taming contests. Single women seeking good husbands observe this day.

I’d love to see pictures,posts,write up,links about all your festive celebrations .Please take out time to share your festival pictures and links of your celebrations . Please drop it in the comments below.Have a fantastic day !!

Happy Celebrations !

Much Love , Devi