Shakuntala Borkar, a teacher from Borim, is
busy with the preparations for the evening ceremony at her residence. The
moment earthen pots – small and big – coloured in bright and fluorescent
colours started filling up spaces in Goan marketplaces, Shakuntala, like other
Hindu women, knew that it is time to start preparing for the Haldi Kumkum
ceremony. The celebrations start by preparing and distributing sesame sweets,
laddoos made of sesame and jaggery, and the main symbol of Sankranti – ‘Tilgul’
or sugar-coated sesame seeds.
One of the unique things about Makar
Sankranti is that, unlike other Hindu festivals which may not coincide with
their dates of the previous year, this one is celebrated on January 14, and in
some rare cases like that of this year, on January 15 every year. Popularly
known for being the first major Hindu festival at the beginning of the year,
Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Lohri in the northern part of the country and
Pongal in the south. The festival is synonymous with the practice of
kite-flying which is widely enjoyed by young and old, and at times in teams,
mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Although, one may not witness the excitement
of kite-flying competitions, this tiny state of ours has its own way of
celebrating the festival, which in no way is less exciting than the other
states.
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Speaking about the celebrations in Goa,
Shakuntala says, “The ritual of having get-togethers during Makar Sankranti is
a tradition that might have travelled to Goa from Maharashtra. However, another
school of thought believes that Haldi Kumkum might have started as an attempt
of boosting the social-bonding of women in the olden days when they were
confined to indoors. It was during this season that they had a reason to visit
and meet other women in the locality, thus creating a feeling of friendliness
amongst the women in the neighbourhood.”
Sheetal Korgaonkar from Corlim, another
woman who religiously follows the tradition of Haldi Kumkum, says, “This ritual
is even bigger when it comes to newly married women. In some parts of Goa,
newly married women follow the custom of distributing coconut and a small
earthen pot during their first Haldi Kumkum.”
Though this ceremony is dominated by women,
kids too have a ball and can be seen relishing the laddoos and other
traditional sweets prepared for the festival. Above all, the reason for their
happiness could be attributed to the fact that they get to see their mothers
dressed in beautiful traditional attire and jewellery for the annual event.
