Bhogi 1996

Bhogi falls on the eve of Makara Sankranti (the day before Pongal) and is celebrated primarily in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. The name derives from the Sanskrit bhoga (enjoyment) but the deeper meaning is one of renewal through release.

Before dawn on Bhogi, families gather old furniture, worn clothes, broken utensils, and unwanted possessions and heap them into a Bhogi Mantalu: a community bonfire. Elders and children circle the fire as it consumes the old, symbolising the burning away of the past year's errors and accumulated negativity. The crackle of wood and the glow of flames before sunrise is an unmistakable sound of Bhogi morning.

In Andhra the festival also involves Bhogi Pallu: aunts pour a shower of seasonal berries (reegu pallu), petals, small coins, sugarcane bits, and ragi flowers over children's heads to bless them with health and abundance. Grandmothers then pick out the berries from children's hair, believed to draw away the evil eye.

Bhogi marks the start of the Pongal-Sankranti harvest festival complex: Bhogi clears the old; Pongal and Sankranti celebrate the new. The Sun enters Capricorn (Makara) the next day, beginning Uttarayana: the northward solar journey considered the most auspicious half of the year.