Telugus bring Pongal flavour to Silk city Berhampur

The sizeable Telugu population in the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border city of Berhampur commenced their own brand of Sankranti celebrations from January 14 with spectacular rangolis, crackling bonfires and colorful cultural shows.

The first day of the festival was celebrated as 'Bhogi', while the second day was celebrated as Pongal, known as Makar Sankranti in most other parts of the state and the country.

At several places of the city, Odia people joined their Telugu counterparts in the celebrations. "It is the biggest annual festival of the Telugu people and they celebrate it across the country," said S Ram Kumar, president of Andhra Bhashabhivardhani Samajam (ABS).

Telugu dominated villages in and around the silk city Berhampur like Goplapur, Chhatrapur and Chikiti in Ganjam district also celebrated the harvest festival as Pongal.

Girls from the community in Berhampur decorated their houses with colourful rangolis and staged cultural shows in the evening at the Sankranti Sambaraalu (Pongal celebration) event organized by the ABS. "We celebrated this festival in an organized way for the first time here," said P Satyanarayana, convener of the festival. People donned new attire and greeted each other on the occasion. The delicious 'Pongali', prepared with newly harvested rice, dal, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar and milk, capped Pongal on a sweet note.

The next day was celebrated as 'Kanuma', the last day of the festivities, especially marked by washing cattle and cleaning cattle sheds. "Since very few Telugu people have cattle, Kanuma is rather low key here," said A Srinibash Rao, a youth from the community

Source: The Hindu