Sankranthi

As the auspicious festival of peasants, Sankranthi is celebrated in all the hamlets of Andhra Pradesh. Also known as the festival of grain harvest, Sankranthi is meant to ward off the evil spirits from the crop fields. Celebrated for three whole days, the festival is religiously followed by all the farmers of the place.

The first day of the occasion, called as bhogi, begins with the lighting of grass, shoots and other waste products of the farming fields. The females of the villages wake up early in the morning and engage in decorating the lawn of their houses with bright rangolis. After the bonfire gets over, the farmers collect ash from it and apply it on their forehead as a sign of respect to the mother earth.

On the following day, the original festival of Sankranthi is observed. The ladies of the hamlets visit their neighborhoods to exchange sugarcane pieces, sesame seeds and bowl of sugar.

The third and the last day of Sankranthi – kanumu, is celebrated in a unique manner. In the wee hours, the peasants take their cattle to the nearby rivers, make them bath and embellish them by coloring the horns and tying bells in their necks. On this very day some farmers perform the ritual of bali in which a sheep or a goat is offered to the God of crops, while some others feed their cattle with home-made rice and milk. The leftover of the dish is usually spread over the farming areas by the peasants with the hope that the crops will be safe from all kinds of bad elements.

The common dish which is made in every household of the villages of the state during Sankranthi is pongal. Prepared with rice and husked greengram, this one is served with desired amount of salt and pepper.

With the end of crop harvesting season, people of Andhra Pradesh celebrate Sankranthi with abundance of disposable income and sufficient time for relaxation and exultation.