Makar Sankranthi - Nostalgic Festival

Since my childhood, I often used to hear people calling Makar Sankranti as 'Pedha Panduga' (Big festival). Being brought up in a village where 90% of the people’s daily bread comes from farming; there is no wonder why everybody there calls Sankranti as the big festival. Sankranti is the time where the houses of farmers get filled with sacks of grains and their hearts with the unlimited joy of seeing the fruits of their months' long efforts of day and night. So no doubt, Sankranti is a massive event in every home of our village. I always have a special bonding with this festival as almost all my uncles, aunts and cousins used to gather and celebrate Sankranti at my maternal grandparent’s house with great joy.

Although Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India in different forms, it is mostly celebrated as a one-day festival. But in Andhra Pradesh, Sankranti celebrations takes place for 4 days starting with Bhogi (symbolizes the transformation of change by cleansing old bad habits burning in a sacrificial fire set up at dawn), Sankranti (the day of family gatherings and lip-smacking preparations), Kanuma (the day for cattle worship) and Mukkanuma (the day for enjoyment).

The joy of the festival season used to start in our village about a month in advance with the typical ritual of making big colorful Rangolis decorated with gobbemmalu (lumps of cow dung decorated with flowers, turmeric, and kumkum) in front of every household. We used to keep competitions among our friends and neighbors to see who will make the biggest rangoli in the street! 

Offering rice to Haridasulu and watching Gangiredhulu dancing is super fun and exciting during Sankranti month. Haridasulu dresses in a dhoti with a big bowl on his head called Akshaya Patra, visit every house in the village singing and praising Lord Vishnu while playing a musical instrument called Tambura. I used to enjoy the melodious music played by haridasulu and I love to offer rice and get blessings from them. On the other hand, gangireddula vallu dressed heavily with a long mustache, along with the bulls decorated with colorful saris, flowers tied around their horns and anklets to their legs, visit each and every house, playing musical instrument nadaswaram and will make the bulls dance to their tunes. It is very much fun to see the bulls dancing and responding to the voice of its owner. Both haridasulu and gangireddu vallu are seen only during Sankranthi time. Cockfights is another major attraction of Sankranthi especially in Godavari Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Personally, I never participated and encourage the blood sport of cockfighting, I have seen many people giving training and preparing their cocks for fighting. Now although the government officially bans it, still people organize them as a symbol of pride and tradition.

As the years passed by, lot of things have changed but the memories of Sankranthi of my childhood are still vivid in my mind. Of all the festivals, the Pedha Pandaga (Sankranthi) has always a special place in my heart and now although I am living in a place where we don’t even have a holiday on Sankranthi, I try my best to impart the culture and tradition of the festival to my daughter. Whenever possible, I try to celebrate the festival at my grand parent’s home and make my daughter experience the same festive feel that I experienced during my childhood. Although I missed celebrating the festival with my extended family this year, I wish and hope to celebrate the festival next year in my grandparent’s home like we used to do it in my childhood days. 

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