BENGALURU: Namma city welcomed Makara Sankranti with avarekai (kidney beans), elachi hannu (jujube fruit), sakkare achchu (sugar moulds), sugarcane and ellu bella (sesame seeds-jaggery mix). The streets were upbeat with vendors selling flowers and host of seasonal crops.
Houses could be seen with colourful rangolis outside the gates. Even outside apartment complexes pumpkins with camphor on it could be seen at the entrances. Some people were scrambling for last- minute purchases of groundnuts and sugarcane.
With sweet and spicy pongal in abundance, health conscious people avoided a lot of it. “This is the third helping I have had in a span of two hours. The rice and moong dal preparations are high on carbs, and heavy on the tummy,” said Darshan Kirani, a techie.
While Bengalureans made the most of the festival in gated communities, some felt they missed the rustic charm of the festival that villages offer.
“It is in the rural areas that Sankranti can be best experienced in. Back in our village we would see farm animals being bathed and seasonal crops being worshipped. Cattle horns are painted and ribbons are tied around them. That’s where people should be to experience a harvest festival. Stacks of hay are set on fire and the livestock is run through it. There’s Basavanna, the bull who visits houses for alms,” said Channabasaveshvara P, a resident of Indiranagar.