The skies, in many parts of the city, are dotted with kites big and small and it seems misplaced and even unwarranted to ask if Sankranti is to Andhra Pradesh what Bonalu and Bathukamma are to Telangana. As the two states gear up for the first Sankranti post bifurcation, the Andhra Pradesh government has allocated Rs. 13 crore towards Sankranti sambaralu, as if taking a cue from the grand celebrations of Bathukamma in Telangana.
Pose the question of how different is Sankranti celebrated by people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and at least in an urban context, it draws puzzled looks as people try to put a finger on what customs can be categorised as belonging to Telangana and Andhra. The colourful Gangireddus have been doing the rounds in many parts of the city, drawing keen onlookers, and to the regular bloke it doesn’t seem to matter which region this practice originated from. The Haridasus have been missing in action from the cultural festivities in Shilparamam. In fact, the Sankranti festivities in Shilparamam have been scaled down this year.
“Sankranti is a harvest festival celebrated in a number of States with a few common factors. The festival holds good for Telangana as well, but the scale of celebrations is larger in coastal Andhra regions. Bhogi mantalu, cooking with fresh harvest rice and pulses, boiling of milk and colourful muggulu are common. One would also find young girls dressed in finery and doing elaborate muggulu in the Andhra regions and they also have cock fights,” points out filmmaker B. Narsing Rao. He cites Dasara, Moharram and Bonalu as the predominant festivals of Telangana region. “All the regions once ruled by Kakatiya dynasty have some common methods of celebrating the harvest festival,” he adds.
Nowhere is the intermingling of cultures more evident than on the plate. Pootharekulu, Bandar laddu and madatha kaja have been part of Sankranthi feasting alongside sakinalu, karjelu and ariselu. Pradeep Rao who runs the small business enterprise Telangana Pindi Vantalu says, “There is a lot of overlapping when it comes to sweets and savouries, though there is a subtle difference in the method of making them. We make sakinalu, ariselu, nuvvula laddu and karjelu while the coastal regions make Bandar laddus and madatha kaja.”
Designer Shilpa Reddy, who gets a childlike enthusiasm spotting gangireddus in Jubilee Hills, recalls a time when she would visit her maternal grandmother’s village in Warangal and watch people exchange greetings after the bhogi mantalu. Today, it is a scaled down celebration that has come with the urbanisation. “On the Sankranti muggu, we place a few pieces of coal over which a small clay pot with milk is placed. The milk has to overflow, a symbolic ritual or thanking nature for the bountiful harvest. Navadhanyalu and pieces of sugar cane are also placed near the pot. Boorelu and mixed dal with navadhanyalu are cooked,” she says.
Both Narsing Rao and Shilpa Reddy draw attention to the tradition of wearing yellow clothes for the festival, to indicate auspicious beginnings. “I was 12 or 13 when I asked my mom for a half sari and she bought me a yellow one since Sankranti was around,” she says.
Flying kites are an integral part of the festivities and as children and adults slug it out cutting each other’s kites. Celebrations continue almost till a week, with some households making non-vegetarian delicacies on the third or fourth day while others stick to a vegetarian fare. The radham or chariot muggu is another marker of the festival.
Irrespective of the customs followed and the food cooked, it’s time to ring in the festive cheer.
