Bhogi & Makara Sankranti Dates 2024 || Bhogi Panduga - The Most Important Festival Of Andhra Pradesh

Bhogi and Sankranti Dates 2024: 14th and 15th January 2024
Makara Sankramanam Time and Date: 8.25 a.m IST on January 15th 2024 (as per TTD Calendar 2024)

Bhogi is not only the most important festival of Andhra Pradesh but is a vibrant and lively festival. Bhogi Panduga is a time to rejoice with family gatherings, special recipes, entertainments and many more.

The festival is celebrated with great fervor and enthu in the lively villages of Andhra Pradesh particularly in the districts of East and West Godavari. It is the 1st day of the 4-day Sankranti Panduga (festival). It is an important social festival of the Telugu people as the farmers / landlords bring home the new harvest during this time. It is a thanksgiving festival when the farmers / villagers express their gratitude to Varuna Deva - the god of rains and thank the cattle for being helpful to them in growing crops. The sacred cows are specially worshipped on this day.

Sankranti Sambaralu begins with Sankranti muggulu, gobbillu, heavy shopping and many more.

Day 1 - Bhogi - the festival with Bhogi mantalu, bhogi pallu and many more celebrations.
Day 2 - Makara Sankranti with Sankranti muggulu, bommala koluvu etc

Day 3 - Kanuma - the thanksgiving festival celebrated by the farmers
Day 4 - Mukkanuma celebrated with kodi pandelu i.e cock-fight (presently an illegal activity because of the harm it causes to the people involved).

Bhogi Celebrations in Andhra Pradesh

Bhogi falls on the 13th / 14th January every year. The day before Makara Sankranti is celebrated as Bhogi. It is a festival of family gathering that brings joy and happiness in the families. The married daughters of the family visit their parents' home along with their husbands and children. The festival is very special for 'kotha allullu' i.e new sons-in-law. It is compulsory for the newly wed daughters to visit their parents' house along with their husband.

The festival involves lots of preparation well in advance which includes clutter-clearing, whitewashng / painting the house, decorating the house and compulsory purchase of clothes for the all the members of the family including the servants of the house. This is the biggest festival of the year and heavy discounts are offered on most of the products, particularly on clothes. Shopping malls are heavily crowded with shoppers. The 4-day festival celebrations begin with Bhogi Mantalu. However, few days prior to the festival, Sankranti Sambaralu the festive fervor, begins.

Gangireddu and Basavanna

Gangireddu / Basavanna is the most common sight in any village or town of Andhra Pradesh during the festival period. Basavanna are the men who beg alms carrying a gangireddu (bull). Basavanna plays folk tunes on a sannai (traditional clarinet) while the bull dances to his tunes by nodding head. People place old clothes on the hump of the bull and gives some money to Basavanna who praises and blesses the members of the household. This is a kind of charitable activity and at the same time one can get rid of the old and unused clothes

Haridaasu

This is another important aspect of the festive celebrations in Andhra Pradesh. Haridaasulu also beg alms mostly rice grains and these men are very much different in their costume which resembles the costume of Naarada Mahaamuni. These men hold a small Veena - the stringed musical instrument on one hand and chidatalu - a pair of wooden blocks used as cymbals in the other hand.

The hard yellow shell (out covering) of yellow pumpkin (tiya gummadi) is placed on his head. He uses this as a container and accepts grains in it. When the lady of the house comes out with handful of grains, Haridasu bends down on his knees and the lady pours the grains in this pumpkin-shell container. Then, he blesses her sayings the words 'Krishnaarpan' which means 'offered to Lord Krishna'.

Gobbillu / Gobbemmalu

Gobbillu is a Telugu word for small cow dung balls. It is an age old tradition in Andhra Pradesh to place 'gobbillu' on the 'Sankranti muggulu'. Young girls make gobbillu, apply pasupu (turmeric) / kumkum on these and place the balls on the muggulu. A pumpkin flower / marigold flower / chrysanthemum flower is placed on each of the cow dung ball. Unmarried young girls of the surrounding houses gather round the muggulu, dance around it in circular pattern singing songs like 'Gobbiyallo gobbiyallo' in praise of Lord Krishna. They do this continuously for nearly two weeks before Bhogi Panduga. Each day fresh 'gobbillu' are placed on the 'muggulu' and the next day, the dried up gobbillu are collected and kept separately which are thrown in the Bhogi Mantalu on Bhogi Panduga day.

Bhogi Mantalu

On Bhogi day, early in the morning before sunrise, a bonfire is set in front of the house. This bonfire is called Bhogi Mantalu in Telugu. This is set either individually by each household or set at the community level. All the wooden waste, dried twigs or branches from the house and the dried up gobbillu are thrown in the Bhogi Mantalu. In the olden days, people used to sit around the bonfire to warm up themselves in the chill weather. But these days, due to global warming, people no more gather round the bonfire to warm up.

Bhogi Pallu

Bhogi Pallu is a very important celebration of Bhogi panduga. Children in the household, from months babies to five years old are involved in this. Bhogi pallu are showered on their head as it is believed that it casts off evil eyes.

Sankranti Muggulu

Sankranti Muggulu i.e floral designs on the floors are the special attraction of Sankranti festival celebrations. Women folk, young and old, are engaged in drawing muggulu (rangolis) with a competitive spirit. These are so special that various organizations conduct Sankranti muggula poteelu i.e. rangoli competitions where the ladies are given a chance to showcase their expertise / talent.

Bommala Koluvu

Bommala koluvu is a main activity of Makara Sankranti. Young girls neatly arrange and display their bommalu i.e dolls in a beautiful way. By doing so, the young girls are encouraged to showcase their talent and learn to keep their things in an organized way. Friends and relatives are invited to see the array of dolls. This is a way of inculcating the habit of socializing in the young girls.

Unfortunately due to various reasons, many of these age old traditions / healthy practices of Andhra Pradesh which have their own benefits for the individual and the society, are fading away. Some of these are at the verge of disappearing. The newer generations are completely unaware of many of the rich traditions and varied culture of the state. It would be great if the Telugu people feel responsible in preserving the rich and varied cultural heritage of the state and pass on the same to the future generations.

Kodi Pandem (Cock-fight)

Kodi Pandem or cock-fight is an age old traditional sport played on Mukkanuma day during the Sankranti time. This is mostly played in the North coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. This traditional sport has changed in the recent past and this is mostly played as a symbol of supremacy. Specially trained cocks are forced to fight which sheds lot of blood and sometimes leads to the death of either or both the cocks. Unfortunately, there is also heavy betting among the individuals during this time. However, this is not a good practice and it has now become an illegal activity.

As per historical records, the famous Bobbili Yudham - a fearful battle between the neighboring kingdoms of Bobbili and Vizianagaram was an outcome of such a kodi padem.

Patangala Poteelu / Kite Flying competition

In Telangana state kite-flying competition is an important activity of Makara Sankranti. Men of all age group take part in the competitions and enjoy flying colorful kites of different shapes.

This culture is been adopted from the Jaipur (Rajasthan) Kite Festival that is celebrated on Makara Sankranti day. From 2016 Telangana tourism organizes International Kite Festival every year during Sankranti for 2-3 days.

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