The effervescent spirit and striking colours of the harvest festival of Sankranti is here. Spread over three days - Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanuma - the festivities mark Sun’s northward journey called ‘Uttarayanam’. Sankranti heralds season of prosperity and plenty and a time for rejoicing and feasting, the festival speaks of the rich, cultural heritage of rural AP. Sankaranti is the time when the now almost extinct breed of Haridasus makes their appearance. Sporting a dhoti and a ‘tambura’ in hand, the Haridasus go around houses singing, dancing and collecting grains and alms adding to the exuberance of the festival. But over the years, the ‘Haridasus’ have been struggling for livelihood owing lack of patronage and the younger generation migrating to cities in search of work. According to Yadla Ram Babu, around 80 ‘Haridasus’ have arrived in the city this year from villages across Visakhapatnam district. “Most of us are in the twilight years of our lives. After me, there is no one left in our family to carry forward this tradition, which is fading away with our children taking up other lucrative professions. We urge the State government to take some measures to support our age-old tradition,” he said .
Some schools and colleges have been making consistent efforts o involve the younger generation in understanding the essence of the festival. On Wednesday, the school premises of Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan resembled a scene from the hinterlands of AP with the students participating in Sankranti celebrations and depicting the various festive symbols in elaborate ways. There were the ‘‘Basavannas’, the uniquely attired alms-seekers with ornately decorated bulls. Dressed up in traditional attire, students presented the ancient story-telling art of ‘Burrakatha’ and also highlighted the changing dynamics of this age-old tradition. “We learnt about the significance of various festive traditions during Sankranti celebrations. I also tried my hands in making the traditional sweet of ‘sunnunda’ and ‘rava laddu’,” said B. Jithin, student.
Kite festival
To pep up the festive fervour city based organisations are conducting kite festivals starting from Friday. At Vihar, Rushikonda, the kite festival will be held on January 13 at 3 p.m. Wipe A Tear is hosting a kite festival at R.K. Beach on January 14 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. while on January 15, Bala Vikas Foundation will be celebrating Sankranti with a kite festival at the same venue.
