The harvest festival of Sankranti is here with its striking colours and vibrancy. It is a season of prosperity and plenty and a time for rejoicing and feasting. The festival speaks of the rich and cultural heritage of rural Andhra Pradesh. The preparation of the festival starts with the onset of the Dhanurmasam. While the farmers get ready to reap the harvest, people get busy with decorating their households and purchasing new clothes. Spread over three days - Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanumu – the festival is a harbinger of more light and sunshine in life. City schools and colleges are in a celebration mode before the Sankranti holidays begin. Cashing in on the festive fervour, it’s raining offers and discounts at malls and showrooms, much to the delight of the shoppers. An attractive feature of Sankranti is ‘Gobbemmalu’ wherein young girls make round balls of cow dung that are decorated with vermilion, turmeric and flowers, and place them in the middle of the bright ‘muggus’ in the front yards. After ‘nava dhanya puja', the women folk gather to sing and dance around these gobbis. Sankaranti is also the time when the ‘Haridasus' make their appearance. Sporting a dhoti and a Tanpura in hand, they go around houses singing and dancing and collecting grains and alms.
As the festival arrives, the skylines will soon be dotted with colourful kites with friends, families and different organisations celebrating kite festival at the beach, parks and apartment terraces.