Harvesting Time

The music in the fields and villages is missing even though the harvest festival is round the corner. It is a long time, since the farmers in India have expressed their happiness over their produce. Natural extremes coupled with rising prices of seeds and manure, and poor prices for their produce is forcing many farmers into debt trap and forcing them to take the extreme step of suicide so that the government announces some relief for the deceased’s family. They take this as their earnings. Recently, some farmers in Punjab because of the poor support price offered by the government threw their produce on the roads instead of selling it.  

It is a common fact that in our country there are three cropping seasons - rabi, kharif and zaid. From October to December, rabi crops are sown and harvested from April to June in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal. Kharif crops like paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, arhar, moong, urad, cotton, jute and groundnut are grown with the onset of monsoon and harvested in September-October. In between these two major crops is the zaid, in which watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber and vegetables are grown. Rice is grown in the states of Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Despite being a Harvest festival, Sankranthi or Makar Sankrnathi as it is popularly called in Andhra Pradesh is celebrated across the country with much enthusiasm. This takes the name of Winter Solstice too when the Sun makes the northward journey. Even as dates for other Indian festivals keep changing, the only constant date for Sankranthi is January 14.

Even our ancient epics like Mahabharata have laid importance on this day as the Sun moves from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana. This day is dedicated to the Sun god who provides the warmth needed for the crops to bloom. However, the Puranas state that on this day Sun (Surya) god visits the house of his son Saturn (Shani), who is the lord of the Zodiac Capricorn (Makar rashi), even though the two did not get along.

One must have seen the pictures of people taking bath in the Ganga, during this period, as it is believed that Maharaja Bhagiratha performed great penance to bring Ganga to the earth to pour life into the bodies of 60,000 sons of Maharaj Sagar, who were burnt to ashes at the Kapil Muni Ashram. Bhagirath on this day offered prayers for the ancestors thus freeing them from the curse. To mark this day, Ganga Sagar Mela is held every year at the confluence of River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal.

The day is celebrated as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Maghi in Punjab and Uttarayan in Gujarat. Many fly kites and watch their kites soar into the skies. The whole sky is decorated with these colourful birds. Cock fights are a prominent event of the festival in all rural areas across the country.

On this day across the country people prepare sweetmeats of white til with jaggery or sugar. In Maharashtra, it is called Tilgul and in Karnataka Yellu-Bella. Decorated cattle races are also held in several states. The Supreme Court has banned the jalli-kutti festival in Tamil Nadu. Many homes are beautifully decorated with rangoli during this time.

However, in Andhra Pradesh, it is a big festival. The first day is celebrated as Bhogi, the second day as Makara Sankranti and the third day as Kanuma. On the first day of the festival, people discard old things and lit a bonfire in a bid to wash away their bad deeds. This is prevalent in Tamil Nadu too. Houses where there are small children, women of the house gather along and a festival is organized to ward off the evil eye. The servants too receive gifts from their employers.

On the second day, on the occasion of Makara Sankranti, many people wear new clothes and pray to God. On the third day, people pray to the animals, especially cows. During festival time, devouts abstain from eating non-vegetarian food. With urbanization taking root some of the old-age customs and traditions are dying out. Like now-a-days we don’t have nagar sankarteenas or see Haridas’ roaming the streets with his cow for alms singing hymns. It is believed that the Haridas’ roam the streets in Dhanur (December-January) maas (Month) thus the roaming culminating at the end of Sankranthi. On this day, many people cook Pongal a sweet made from rice, milk and sugar thus marking the beginning of a bountiful year full of prosperity. Some of them cook many other delicacies too.  

Makar Sankranthi is the culmination of the pilgrimage for Swami Ayyappa devotees in Sabarimala. The 40-day penance by the devotees ends on this day when Makara Jyothi appears and celebrations begin. In the northern part of the country, especially Punjab, Lohri is celebrated in the evening prior to Makar Sankranthi. A bonfire is lit and sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown in the bonfires, while friends and relatives move around it. It is an important festival for the newly married and the new baby. In the north, as it is the end of winter, many relish makki ki roti and sarson ka saag. People also exchange gifts which consist of til, gazak, gur, moongphali, phuliya and popcorn.
   
The month of January will also see the celebration of Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja, which falls on January 28 this year. On this day, people worship Goddess Saraswati who is considered the deity for knowledge. Parents initiate their child to writing on this day as it is considered very auspicious. Some of the devout go to Basar to perform this auspicious event. Two days later follows the festival of Radha Saptami, when many draw chariots and offer prayers to the Sun God.