City celebrates Sankranti

INDORE: The celebratory mood has invaded the whole of the country with festival marking the northward journey of Sun being celebrated with varied hues in different regions. Known as Lohri in north-west India, Makar Sankranti in northern regions, Maagh Bihu in Assam, Uttarayan in Gujarat and Pongal in south, the day signifies the end of harvest season and beginning of longer daytime.
And for Gujaratis, Tamilians and Andhraites staying in Indore, the celebration would be no different from the one celebrated in their native places.
The excitement is palpable especially among over one lakh Gujarati residents of the city.
Their preparations cover the whole array of activities like making manjha (thread used in flying kite) to mouth-watering cuisines.
“I want to defeat my opponents in kite flying. Nothing could be more pleasing than victoriously screaming ‘kai po che’,” said an entrepreneur Viren Kanadia. “We will have a terrace party and we have fixed a visit to Ralamandal too.” His wife Sheetal Kanadia said, “The festival is a perfect get-together for both family and friends. The unique feature of the festival is that it is not just celebrated by a particular community. My non-Gujarati friends will also come to my place for the celebration.” Shri Gujarati Samaj Trust Board general secretary Pankaj Sanghvi said, “Special arrangements are being made for January 14 at Scheme No 54. The celebration will feature games, preparing Gujarati cuisines and tastefully designed kites.” She said a set of designer kites, valued at Rs 40,000, have been bought.
These kites, in shapes of bat, eagle, butterfly, aeroplane etc have been ordered from Ahmedabad.
“My kids were very happy when they got kites of varied size as gift,” said office in charge of a city-based Gujarati institute Nikhil Desai. “Last year we went to see Rann Utsav, but this year these kites gifted to us have made the occasion special.”
Another Gujarati family in the city already had whale of a time at international kite festival of Kutch and Ahmedabad. Varsha Garg, who was with her husband Praveen and son Parv Garg at the festival said, “We had a great time along with delegates from different places, including, Malaysia, China, South Africa and Singapore. I was mesmerized by beautifully designed kites in different shapes and sizes.”
“On the eve of Makar Sankranti, known as Bhogi, a bonfire is lit up to welcome the new season. The word pongal means boiling over, so food is cooked on the day of Pongal by boiling it over to the rim of the vessel it is cooked in,” Sivan Vishwanatha said.
“The time at which this the over-flowing must occur is also specific and is decided in accordance with Tamil ‘panchang’,” he added. “On the next day of pongal, the food is cooked in an open field under sunlight. Two major dishes are cooked -- one is sweet, made up of rice and jaggery and the other with pulses and salt in it. These dishes are distributed as ‘prasad’ and are also offered to cows and other cattle,” P Babuji said.