With Sankranti just two days from now, festival atmosphere is prevailing everywhere. Right from youth to children to aged, all of them are in the ocean of joy to the core. While kids are busy awaiting to pampering their taste buds with a variety of delicacies that will be prepared for the eve, men are busy in selecting traditional threads. And not to forget the women, who will be geared up to show their rangoli skills.
Makara Sankranti or simply Sankranti is a day wherein Sun (as per Indian astrology) enters Makara Rasi. So, with this day, it's believed that, good days begin, which will (as per astrology) cease sometime in December. So, usually people don't perform any holy rituals until January 15. If we put astrology part aside, Sankranti also marks the harvest. Therefore, it's also called harvest festival. Since, more than 80% of population earlier used to make their living on agriculture, they celebrated the day of their harvest as a biggest festival. Thus Sankranti became a big festival especially in Andhra Pradesh.
If we talk about delicacies, it's being believed that the special dishes prepared for Sankranti have scientific reasoning too. The seasame seeds that are used in all dishes increases the heat in the body and thus enables people withstand the biting cold this season. On the other hand, the rangoli and the gobbemma (triangular shaped cow dung balls) used in rangoli are said to put bacteria at bay.
Since wind will also blow at maximum speed, people make best use of it by flying kites. Therefore, all the things done on Sankranti have scientific reasoning. While Sankranti is the main festival, a day before Sankranti and day after Sankranti (Bogi and Kanuma) too are celebrated grandly. So, Sankranti is actually a three-day festival with Bogi and Kanuma.
East Godavari and West Godavari districts are the places where Sankranti celebrations touch sky. To have a glimpse of Sankranti celebrations, it's ideal to visit these places. However, it's unfortunate that ill-tradition of cock fights still take place at many places of coastal parts of Andhra even though it's illegal. Let us celebrate Sankranti with joy and not with that sadistic enjoyment that comes out of cock-fights. Andhra Wishesh takes an opportunity to wish you all a HAPPY BOGI, HAPPY SANKRANTI and HAPPY KANUMA.
(AW Phani)
