Sweets, family and kite-flying to mark Makar Sankranti, Pongal celebrations

PUNE: Sweets, kites, traditional clothes and the company of family and friends — the city is geared up to celebrate Makar Sankranti, the first festival of the calendar year, on Tuesday.
Makar Sankranti, which has different names in different parts of the country — Pongal (Tamil), Maghi (Punjab), Bihu (Assam), Uttarayan (Gujarat) among others — is a harvest festival that signals the Sun’s transition into the Makara (Capricorn) raashi and the beginning of longer days.
In Maharashtra, the popular greeting of the day “Tilgul ghya goad goad bola” highlights the “sweet” essence of the festival. A favourite among the dishes prepared on the day is tilgul, a laddoo made of sesame, jaggery and coconut. In the evenings, get-togethers known as Haldi Kunku are organised, where women dress up in colourful saris and enjoy sweet delicacies. The festival is particularly popular among children.
Seema Kulkarni, a Baner resident, spent Monday preparing the sweets. “Everything is ready. My mother-in-law and I have already bought the bright traditional saris we will wear for the Haldi Kunku. We have invited women from our society to attend the gathering.”
Her four-year-old son Akshay, however, is the most excited. “He has been brushing up on his kite flying skills with his father,” Kulkarni said.
Members of the Tamil community will celebrate the day as Pongal, and prepare a special dish called ‘pongal’.
Divya Iyer, from Baner, said the muhurath for Pongal preparation is between 8.45am and 9am. “I will be working during the day, but I’ll make Pongal in the morning along with my mother-in-law. We’ll be preparing the sweet variation, made of jaggery, rice, daal and milk.” There will also be a small puja at her home at 11am. “We will visit the Balaji temple in the Pashan area later,” Iyer added.
Aditi Venkateshwaran, a dancer from Karvenagar, has both Tamil and Maharashtrian roots. She said she will celebrate Pongal with a family lunch at her grandparents’ in Nigdi. But she will also be feasting on tilgul. “I come from Akola and I have fond memories of celebrating Makar Sankranti as a child.”