BHARATI PAWASKAR
Makar Sankranti, which falls on January 14 every year, will be celebrated on January 15 this year as it is on this day that Sun will enter the Makar Rashi (that of his son Shani) and stay there for a month together with him is what one believes in the Sanatan Hindu Dharm. The auspicious occasions like marriages begin post Makar Sankranti.
This year, at Prayagraj, it marks the beginning of the Kumbh Mela where a few lakh devotees would gather on this day to have Shahi Snaan (a dip) in the holy sangam of three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and Gupt Saraswati.
“Makar Sankranti is to revere the deity Sun. On this day one has to offer water to the Sun, eat simple khichadi, abstain from consuming non-veg, onion, garlic, alcohol and smoking, observe celibacy and be truthful. This is what is expected on this day if one wants to get Moksha. Also there is a condition of not offering water in iron, steel or plastic vessels. One also has to donate perfumes, incense sticks, sesame seeds, oil, yellow cloth, woollen clothes, blankets, copper utensils and gram daal to the needy,” advises Mukesh Pandya, a Brahmin who observes all of these himself year after year on this day.
There is a reason behind such rituals and conditions while celebrating Indian festivals. “The reasons are mostly scientific but sometimes it’s a real wise healthy advice disguised as a religious ritual so that common people don’t question and don’t argue but follow blindly,” explains Sukumar Barve, a purohit associated to a temple in South Goa.
Gujarat, the vibrant state that celebrates 200 plus festivals a year, has declared Uttarayan as an international kite festival day and homes in Gujarat begin making patang (kites) and manja (special thread to fly it) several days before Makar Sankranti. Uttarayan marks the first day of Sun’s transit from one sign into the other marking the end of the month with winter solstice and the beginning of summer solstice.
Makar Sankranti day is considered to be one of the most important harvest day in India. Different states have their own way of celebrating. In Gujarat it is celebrated with flying of kites by the citizens. Uttarayan is such a huge celebration that it has become a public holiday in the state.
“On this day we cook and serve undhiyu (a mixed vegetable), sesame seed laddoos and jalebi-fafda,” states Naina Patel, a Gujarati businesswoman from Margao. Originally from Ahmedabad, but now settled in Goa for the past three decades, Naina still follows the system her maternal home followed. She calls her friends in Goa to spend the day together, though they don’t fly kites here as in Gujarat.
Synonymous to Makar Sankranti is a popular Marathi saying, Tilgul ghya, god god bola. Tilgul, which is a sweet made of sesame seeds, oil or ghee and jaggery - which is supposed to be donated on this day. Instead of donating sesame seeds and oil, if a sweet dish is made out of it, it’s much easier to offer it to many as it serves the purpose well.
Another popular ritual is that of Haldi Kumkum - an informal get-together of married women who visit each other’s homes and exchange gifts. In the good old times, this ritual started to give a breathing space for women who were burdened by home work all the time and had no ‘me’ time.
It soon took the form of a formality and consumerism overshadowed it. Women began competing among themselves, to give expensive gifts. To put a curb on the growing trend of celebrating Haldi Kumkum with pomp and show and do it in a more constructive and eco-friendly way many progressive men and women have come forward. Rajendra Desai, founder of Krutarth Mardol and Anita Kavalekar, president of Nari Shakti, an NGO from Ponda are two among these.
Anita who had appealed to all women to exchange pots of plants as gifts while celebrating the festival in an eco-friendly manner, says, “The women took a vow to nurture the plant for the next year and plant it in their gardens or in the neighbourhood. And 100 of them did it religiously.” This year Anita has come up with another idea.
“I have appealed to the women in my circle, around 500 of them, to celebrate Haldi Kumkum publicly, in a creative way and gift something that they have hand crafted. It could be anything, a snack, a sweet, a piece of jewellery, a cloth bag or purses made of old sarees. This would serve as an advertisement for their product and later create a ready market,” briefs Anita, who is happy that 20 out of 45 women who learnt silk thread jewellery recently at a workshop agreed that they would gift handmade ear rings or bangles during Haldi Kumkum ritual. Many others have agreed to celebrate it not in their individual homes, but jointly at some public place which is a good beginning.
Social customs need not be followed blindly or rigidly. Adopting an environment friendly approach a tweak could be given to fit it into today’s modern era and yet enjoying the flavour of the ritual is what one learns from the whole exercise.
