BERHAMPUR: Colourful ‘rangoli’, traditional bonfire and cultural shows marked the beginning of the three-day Pongal festival of the Telugu community in Berhampur. The celebration started with Bhogi, the lighting of bonfire to mark the death of demon king Ravana, on Friday.
The celebration, heralding the harvest festival, saw people of all walks of life with their families defying the morning chill and lighting bonfire - ‘Bhogimantalu’ - to get rid of the old and bad and to ring in new hopes. On Saturday, Sankranti or Pongal was marked by family get-together with delicacies being prepared at home and children wearing new clothes. ‘Shradha’ was offered to the ancestors and traditional decoration of dolls was also put on display in some houses, called ‘Bommalakolugu’.
While married women greeted their friends and relatives with Kumkum and turmeric, the young girls dressed as ‘gopis’ got together to sing and dance Krishna leelas. On the last day on Sunday, members of the community will feast together and offer prayers to the cattle. In fact, the third day marks the worship of animals and praying for a good harvest. The bovine are worshiped and the ‘prasad’ is sprinkled on the agricultural fields with the hope that the year would bring in good harvest. With a sizeable Telugu population in this Odisha-Andhra border town, the festival is celebrated with pomp and gaiety.
Besides Berhampur, Telugu dominated villages in and around Gopalpur, Chhatrapur and Chikiti in Ganjam district also celebrated the festival with their Odia counterparts. People donned new attire and greeted each other on the occasion. The delicious ‘Pongali’, prepared with newly harvested rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk, capped the celebration on a sweet note. Telugus form 38 per cent of the population of Southern Odisha districts and it is around 40 per cent in Ganjam district alone.
The festival is, however, losing sheen as some major activities like ‘Jangam Devara’, ‘Haridasu’, ‘Budabuccalavaru’ and ‘Gobbilu’ are no more seen. Lighting of bonfires has also decreased due to hike in the cost of firewood, said P Satyanarayana, a senior citizen. The Odias, for whom Makar Sankranti holds similar importance, congregated at different shrines to offer prayers. Similarly, the sleepy islet of Kalijai on the picturesque Chilika lake came alive on Saturday with thousands of devotees congregating for Makar Sankranti. Pilgrims and holiday makers from the State thronged the place to offer obeisance to Goddess Kalijai, the presiding deity of fishermen.
The devotees come in droves on the day to take a holy dip in the lake, which is considered auspicious. To facilitate smooth conduct of the festivity, local boatmen were engaged to ferry people from the shore to the island. Devotees visit Gupteswar Jeypore: Hundreds of devotees from Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh thronged Gupteswar on Saturday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti and took a dip in the holy Saberi river. Special rituals were conducted in the temple.