Updated, Jan. 14, 2024. 9. 30 PM.
Assam is celebrating the Magh Bihu, the vibrant harvest festival, also known as Bhogali Bihu and Maghor Domahi. It is the first festival of the year that brings people of various communities together to enjoy the winter crops and pray for prosperity for the rest of the year. It is called Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Lohri in Punjab, and Makar Sankranti in Northern parts of India.
Akashvani Correspondent reports that Magh Bihu is being celebrated all over the State. The Bihu is mostly about eating together and enjoying together. During Magh Bihu, people have feasts and light bonfires, starting a day before the main celebration. The day before Magh Bihu is called Uruka or Bihu eve, the last day of the Poush month in the Assamese calendar.
Today is Uruka and as part of the Bihu celebration, people building makeshift cottages called ‘Bhelaghar’ using hay from the harvest fields. People are also constructing Meiji for bonfire. Fish is an integral part of dinners in this Festival. Community fishing is going on in rivers and ponds. People also throng fish markets early in the morning to buy the best fish.
They will prepare food inside the Bhelaghar and a community feasting to be held on this Uruka night. The Meji will be burned early tomorrow morning and the ashes to be spread on the farmland to make the soil more fertile.
During the main Bihu, people take a bath early in the morning and play traditional Assamese games like Tekeli Bonga and buffalo fighting. There are also cock fights and egg fights. People eats and shares the traditional Assamese foods and sweets on this occasion.
Magh Bihu holds agricultural and social significance as it is time to celebrate new yield and renew ties of friendship and brotherhood within communities. In urban areas, people are purchasing symbolic readymade Mejis for bonfire due to lack of open spaces and non availabilities of hay.
In Telangana, Makara Sankranti festivities commenced with people celebrating Bhogi today with traditional fervour and gaiety. Akashvani correspondent says the three-day post-harvest festival is being celebrated across the State.
Akashvani Correspondent reports that the First day of Sankranti festivities began with Bhogi Mantalu, which is a bonfire lit early this morning. People along with children seen coming out in large numbers to light the bonfires at the street corners and cross roads. They burnt their old and unused belongings in the fire as a symbol to get rid of the evil.
People are inviting the Sankranti Lakshmi a sign of Prosperity by decorating their houses traditionally with colourful Rangoli, Mango leaves and marigold flowers.
The three-day festivities are predominant in rural areas across the State as farmers reap their harvest before the festival. Meanwhile, Colourful kites adorn skies over Hyderabad as the sixth edition of the Telangana International Kite Festival commenced last evening at the Parade Ground in Secunderabad.
The event is witnessing kites in various sizes, hues and shapes as 40 international kite flyers from 16 countries besides 50 kite flyers across the country are participating in the event.