Kites, Fires and Harvest Feasts: India Welcomes the Season of Plenty
The people of India rejoiced and glorified in colour, warmth, and thanks with Makar Sankranti, Pongal, and Lohri, the harvest time and the journey of the sun to the north. In kite-filled skies of Gujarat to holy riverbanks of the north, Makar Sankranti was celebrated with holy dips, charity, and sweets of sesame and jaggery, as a symbol of prosperity and unity.
Pongal united families in Tamil Nadu, and during the four days of the festival, newly harvested rice was cooked in earthen pots and given to the Sun God. The houses were filled with old songs, doorsteps were decorated with kolam, and cattle were also revered during Mattu Pongal.
In the meantime, in Punjab and some areas of North India, the Lohri festivals focus on fire, folk songs, and vitality bhangra. People prayed that there should be plenty and prosperity as the fires ascended to great heights. These festivals were all a sign of India and the diversity and closeness to nature and agriculture.
