From decorating homes to savouring festive delicacies and getting together with families, the joy of Makara Sankranti is steeped in tradition. With rangolis at doorsteps, strings of mango leaves framing entrances, children and adults donning ethnic wear, Bengalureans are all set to celebrate the season of new beginnings. As the festivity fills the air, CE speaks with Sandalwood stars, who reminisce about cherished Sankranti memories and share how they keep the customs alive and what they are most excited about this year.
Being from Sakleshpur, we celebrate the festival in a simple way – wearing new clothes and going around to every house to distribute ellu and bella. Ellu-bella has to be my favourite part of the festival – I eat it for two months afterwards! Apart from that, kadbu and iskidbele saru are the specialities made on the festival. The next day, however, we have non-vegetarian food, and it’s like a big party, a celebration that’s different from other parts of Karnataka.
This Sankranti is extra special because I’m celebrating the festival with my sister and her newborn baby girl. Until I completed my 10th grade, I would visit my hometown every Sankranti. Gradually, it became something I celebrated here, caught up in work and personal life. What kept Sankranti special for me in the city were my neighbours. A group of us who had migrated to Bengaluru celebrated together with house owners and people living nearby, who would lovingly bring home-cooked festive dishes, including ellu-bella. After becoming an actor, I have also celebrated Sankranti with auto drivers on several occasions. One memorable celebration was during the promotions of Nodidavaru at Basaveshwara Nagar Grounds, organised by the Bengaluru Auto Chalaka Sangha. Today, the festival has become a major film release window, and I look forward to Kannada cinema reclaiming that space with memorable films.
It’s the time of the year when you get to spend quality time with your family, friends and relatives and that’s what makes the festival special. Over the years, many traditions from my childhood have become a little obsolete. As a kid, I would dress up and go to all the houses around with my cousins and exchange plates of ellu-bella. Today, it feels like we are living in an era where everything needs an appointment. The past spontaneity is missing and it’s something I really want to pass on to my daughter. I want her to exchange bella with her friends the way we did. I also miss making sakkare acchu-bella with my grandmother. The obbattu with ghee, ellu-bella, puja, new clothes and the banana leaf meal make every Sankranti special. Growing up in South India, kite flying wasn’t a major ritual, but my daughter is excited about it this year.
Growing up in Mysuru, Sankranti meant my sister going for ‘ellu beerodu’. People would also paint cattle and make them jump over fire – it’s a tradition called ‘kicchu haisodu’. It’s been many years since I saw that. Since my son was born, we haven’t been able to celebrate the festival in a grand way, but I plan to from next year to pass it on. This year, I will be in Visakhapatnam with my CCL(Celebrity Cricket League) team.
This year, we will hold a small puja ceremony at home and probably visit a temple. I have been in Bengaluru for a couple of years now, but as Punjabis, we mark Lohri with a lot of celebration. Our celebration includes enjoying gajak and moongfali, which is a classic combination that I have grown up eating, and dancing around the bonfire. The festival is celebrated very differently here compared to Punjab. While the customs, traditions and food may be different, for me it’s still about celebrating the new year with my loved ones.
Makara Sankranti has always fascinated me because it celebrates the earth. My memories are of people dressed in traditional attire, jaggery and corn being distributed and the sense of togetherness. We also decorate our house with lots of green, mango leaves and prepare delicacies like holige and chitranna. But my favourite is ellu-bella and visiting houses to share sweets, sugarcane and those beautifully shaped sugar cubes. Over the years, things have changed. Earlier, we would just bite into sugarcane, but now we hesitate. Even Bengaluru has changed – we were once a close-knit community and today, we hardly know our neighbours. Sankranti was always about community and that is something I miss.