For East and West Godavari districts, touted as the rice bowl of the State, kick-start the three-day harvest festival, Pongal, with Bhogi. The first day is dedicated to Lord Indra, who is the god of rain. He is worshiped for abundance of harvest, which brings prosperity.
Lighting a bonfire is the hallmark of Bhogi. However, the tradition is disappearing in most villages.
“In olden days, youth used to make a bonfire of tree trunks (Bhogi mantalu) in one corner of the street in the early hours of the day,” recalls Tirumal Rao, a villager of Arthamuru.
Preparation of traditional sweets at houses is also part of the festival. But due to availability of “pure home-made” sweets in the market round the year, traditional preparations are going out of fashion.
Polisetty Mallibabu, owner of Suruchi Foods that dishes out the popular Tapeswaram Kaja, says: “Bulk booking of dishes such as ariselu, kajjikayalu, paakundalu, gorumitteelu, muripeelu, jantikalu, chegodilu, challa guttulu, pootharekulu, sunnundalu, and bobbatlu has come down drastically.”
“The present generation has forgotten about jeellu, which has a long history. They were once in huge demand, particularly during village festivals (tirunallu),” Mr. Mallibabu says.
Connecting on
social media
Peddinti Seetharamaih Bhargav, an octogenarian medical practitioner Korukonda, says that his children and grandchildren, who have come from Hyderabad and the U.S. to the village, are busy connecting with their friends on the social media. “My granddaughter says that she knows about Sankranti as she has read postings about the festival on the Facebook,” Dr. Bhargav says. Says Vedic scholar ‘Mahamahopadhyaya’ Sri Viswanatha Gopalakrishna: “On Bhogi day, people clean their homes, collect unwanted goods, and make a bonfire of them. The day is meant for undertaking such domestic activities. The tradition of placing pumpkin flowers set in cow dung balls among rangoli patterns has disappeared, thanks to cement roads and apartment culture. Freshly harvested rice, turmeric, and sugarcane are not seen anywhere.”