Bhogi Festival
Bhogi Festival is the first day of Pongal celebration and is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, the God of clouds and rains. Farmers worship Lord Indra to seek his blessings for a good harvest that would bring wealth and prosperity to them. Hence this day is also known as Indran. Another legend of Bhogi is associated with the divine marriage of Godadevi (Andal) and Sri Ranganatha swamy. Bhogi is known as Lohri in Punjab and other parts of North India.
Bhogi falls on the first day of the Pongal celebration. It is celebrated on the last day of the Tamil month of Margazhi. According to the Gregorian calendar it is normally celebrated on 13th January but sometimes it is celebrated on 14th January.
Significance of Bhogi
People discard all old clothes and materials, by setting them on fire (fire made of wood and cow-dung cakes), marking the end of the old and the emergence of the new. The significance of the bonfire is to keep warm during the last lap of winter. Houses are cleaned and white-washed on this day and are decorated with marigold flowers, mango leaves and new things. Floral designs called ‘kolam’ with freshly harvested rice flour paste and red markings are made by women of the house as per traditions. Over the kolam a cow dung ball, decorated with turmeric, kumkum, and flowers is placed. Farmers worship their ploughs and other equipment on this day. Apart from traditional and spiritual reasons, all these Bhogi rituals and celebrations have good scientific reasons. The cow dung ball and turmeric creates a worm-free environment in the house. The bonfire (burning the agricultural waste and domestic waste) not only clears the waste but also makes the fields free from harmful insects and worms.
Spiritual Significance of Bhogi
Many people know of Bhogi wherein only the old, and unwanted things from the house are thrown out and burnt. But Bhogi doesn’t just involve the physical cleaning of the houses, but also spiritual cleaning of our minds. Mind is nothing but a collection of thoughts. We all have both good and bad thoughts. No matter how good we consider ourselves to be, there are some unwanted elements in us like anger, jealousy, pride, hatred, lust, greed etc. This kind of cleanup should be practiced as an annual event. Even if some cleaning up is done on a daily basis, a few things pile up here and there without us being conscious about it. This piling up is not only of material things in our homes. Also in our minds, in our emotions, in our bodies, and in our consciousness, things pile up. This is the time to clean that up and start afresh.
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