Saturday 15 January 2011

Shubh Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankranti.
May this day mark the beginning of a sweet and
fragrant time for you and your family.
As the days become warmer and longer,
let all the darkness and the cold fade away
and give in completely to the light and warmth
- of goodness, love and positivity.

Today is a day that is marked
with the festivities of harvest,
an auspicious day for us in India.
We Bongs celebrate the day
with 'peethe' and 'patishapta',
(special sweets filled with coconut, jaggery or kheer)
to be relished with generous helpings of
'jhola gur'- one of the treasures of the season.
The unique woven hangings that you see
are handmade by rural women in Bengal with paddy,
the first photo is of one of the artists displaying her work.
We tie them to the kitchen door and wardrobe handles
to welcome Goddess Lakshmi into our homes.

Thank you all for your wishes and blessings.
Keep well, be happy.

6 comments:

Strawberry Amma said...

I have this same picture of Goddess Lakshmi at my place too. And, I've had three different kinds of pithe with patishapta also. :)

Rupa said...

Happy belated Sankranti to you too. You know Dee, one thing I have noticed is all the festival names, religious ceremony words etc you use are Sanskrit words and they are words people use in South India too! So I feel like you speak my language :) Very few north Indians call it Sankranti as you just did, only the ones in Karnataka do call it that. Thanks for making me feel like we are from the same place :) For the record, I have good Bong friends and I love learning new words from them too, especially those unparallaled sweets that only Bongs can make :))

Sunita Mohan said...

I love the workmanship (or rather, craftsmanship) that goes into making that woven paddy hanging! So unique. Are they woven when green and allowed to dry? Any idea?

salwar kameez said...

Same to u..I still remember my childhood days of Makar Sankranti. But now a days few people still remember it.

bespoke canvas pictures said...

loved it, just loved it

FitFoodieMegha said...

Many many happy returns of the day Dithi.....:)

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