Sankranti
~ Ring out the old, ring in the new!
Makara Sankranti is the time period when the Sun (Lord Surya), transitions into the Makara (capricorn) constellation. This is the official start date of Spring in India. I will leave the rest of the explanation to wikipedia and other educational sites.
Sankranti to a majority of us telugu speaking people means -- flying kites, eating pongal(savory and sweet), various snacks and sweets, new clothes, bonfires, muggulu(rangoli) and gangireddulu(bull visits). The beauty and essence of Sankranti as I understand is to clear clutter and start fresh.
So, in that spirit, here is my brand new blog!
What it means to me, personally, to celebrate Sankranti, in this day and age ?
- Bhogi -- I do not want to burn(read global warming) or throw old things, so I chose to donate to the needy. In the evening, my toddler S got her share of Bhogi pallu though :-) (Mixture of berries, flowers, coins showered on little kids to ward off all evil/negative energy, so they can get a fresh start and lots of positive energy. I will attempt to get to the history of why and what of this ritual at some point in one of future my blog posts)
- Food -- I love to cook. But neither does the Mr. nor myself want to eat the 10-course home cooked meal, because our exercise and fitness levels are not where we want them to be. Instead, I chose to make simple pongal with rice and yellow mung.
- Feed the animals (kanuma/mattu Pongal) -- Since there are no bulls or wandering musicians visiting the house, we will try our best to feed the animals around us. Toddler S and I always leave a bowl of water for the birds, but today we are going to leave some breadcrumbs and berries for the birds/animals in the yard.
-Muggu/rangoli -- I love love love Muggu/Rangolis!! I see this as a great way to exercise in the morning. For making the rangoli's, one needs to squat and rise so many times, that the next day, you will feel the pull in all body parts below your waist that you never thought you had! So, ofcourse, this is the my favorite!
- Kites -- I flew kites a few times as a kid but I am so bad at it that I would rather say I never flew a kite. I need my Mr.'s help to teach me how to fly kites. Maybe this weekend, lets see. If anyone else is reading this and volunteer's to fly kites near where I live, please let me know! Toddler S should definitely learn and know how to fly kites!
If there was one thing that I never attempted during Sankranti, it was the "ratham muggu(chariot rangoli)" done on the third day of Sankranti (Kanuma for the Telugu speaking people). It probably was because my legs were sore after the first two days of LARGE rangolis or more likely reason was because, it looked more complicated. My grandma ended up doing the ratham muggu, in the end, anyway.
So, this year, the Sun God has my chariot to ride on and make his northward journey!
[The chariot rangoli is also made on Ratha Saptami (Jan 26 is the next one), which is when I thought I would originally make this rangoli, but I couldn't wait till then, so here it is. ]
Hope everyone had a beautiful Sankranti !
~ Ring out the old, ring in the new!
Makara Sankranti is the time period when the Sun (Lord Surya), transitions into the Makara (capricorn) constellation. This is the official start date of Spring in India. I will leave the rest of the explanation to wikipedia and other educational sites.
Sankranti to a majority of us telugu speaking people means -- flying kites, eating pongal(savory and sweet), various snacks and sweets, new clothes, bonfires, muggulu(rangoli) and gangireddulu(bull visits). The beauty and essence of Sankranti as I understand is to clear clutter and start fresh.
So, in that spirit, here is my brand new blog!
What it means to me, personally, to celebrate Sankranti, in this day and age ?
- Bhogi -- I do not want to burn(read global warming) or throw old things, so I chose to donate to the needy. In the evening, my toddler S got her share of Bhogi pallu though :-) (Mixture of berries, flowers, coins showered on little kids to ward off all evil/negative energy, so they can get a fresh start and lots of positive energy. I will attempt to get to the history of why and what of this ritual at some point in one of future my blog posts)
- Food -- I love to cook. But neither does the Mr. nor myself want to eat the 10-course home cooked meal, because our exercise and fitness levels are not where we want them to be. Instead, I chose to make simple pongal with rice and yellow mung.
- Feed the animals (kanuma/mattu Pongal) -- Since there are no bulls or wandering musicians visiting the house, we will try our best to feed the animals around us. Toddler S and I always leave a bowl of water for the birds, but today we are going to leave some breadcrumbs and berries for the birds/animals in the yard.
-Muggu/rangoli -- I love love love Muggu/Rangolis!! I see this as a great way to exercise in the morning. For making the rangoli's, one needs to squat and rise so many times, that the next day, you will feel the pull in all body parts below your waist that you never thought you had! So, ofcourse, this is the my favorite!
- Kites -- I flew kites a few times as a kid but I am so bad at it that I would rather say I never flew a kite. I need my Mr.'s help to teach me how to fly kites. Maybe this weekend, lets see. If anyone else is reading this and volunteer's to fly kites near where I live, please let me know! Toddler S should definitely learn and know how to fly kites!
If there was one thing that I never attempted during Sankranti, it was the "ratham muggu(chariot rangoli)" done on the third day of Sankranti (Kanuma for the Telugu speaking people). It probably was because my legs were sore after the first two days of LARGE rangolis or more likely reason was because, it looked more complicated. My grandma ended up doing the ratham muggu, in the end, anyway.
So, this year, the Sun God has my chariot to ride on and make his northward journey!
[The chariot rangoli is also made on Ratha Saptami (Jan 26 is the next one), which is when I thought I would originally make this rangoli, but I couldn't wait till then, so here it is. ]
Hope everyone had a beautiful Sankranti !
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