Vibrant Colours of One Festival – MakaraSankranti in South India


MakaraSankranti is the festival that every Hindu, regardless of the caste, creed or gender celebrates with joy. It is a harvest festival. As the granaries are full, it signifies prosperity. Sugarcanes are one of the most important and symbolic food crop of this festival. The festival of welcoming harvest and soliciting winter is usually celebrated in the month of January. The celebration in South India varies from state to state.

Karnataka - MakaraSankranti
People decorate their houses and light lamps. The pray and sing invoking the gods and goddesses to shower their blessings upon them. Two sugarcanes are placed on either sides of the gate or each at the entrance. The famous ‘Rangoli’ a design laid in the entrance using flour is a welcome gesture that has been in use for ages in the Indian culture. The famous ‘ellu-bella’ which is basically sesame seeds and jaggery is shared among family, friends and acquaintance.  It is a gesture to signify prosperity and better life in the coming days.

Tamil Nadu - Pongal
The name of the festival is derived from the famous rice dish prepared during the festival, ‘Pongal’. The sweet dish made of jaggery and rice is distributed among people and everybody praises the lord and screams ‘Pongal-oh-pongal.’ Mud pots and stoves are paved on the streets where all the residents of that area come together to cook and celebrate. They also have ‘Rangolis’ that they call ‘Kolam’ which makes the streets look much beautiful.

Andhra Pradesh - Sankranti
The festival is celebrated for four days in a row; first day is called‘Bhogi’, second day is called ‘MakarSankranti’, day three is called ‘Kanuma’ and day four is known as ‘Mukkanuma’. The sociality of the celebration is the distribution of jujube fruits which is believed to protect children from the evil eye. Bonfires, festive food offerings and rituals are a common sight here.

Kerala - MakarSankrathi
The Hindu Keralites start their festival in Sabarimala where people gather to see the holy ‘MakaraJyothi’, a heavily burning lamp like structure that is seen in the one of the hills. It is followed by the ‘Makaravilakku’ celebration where families gather to celebrate the festival praying for happiness and prosperity.

MakarSankranti, though the celebrations and rituals vary across the country, the essence of celebrating this festival remains the same – to thank God for the good harvest and pray for an even better one in the coming days. It’s indeed a great festival to the farming community to cheer and enjoy for their entire year’s hard work and perseverance.

Wish you and your family a happy and prosperous MakarSankranti!

Location: India

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