Makar Mela, Flying Colorful Kites
Makar Mela is celebrated around the middle of January. Makar Sankranti festival comes in this time. 14th of January will be the time for the celebration of this Mela. Sun God is worshipped during this festival. The Sun will enter Capricorn in this time. Many states in India celebrate this festival in different names. According to Hindus the Sun God Will go to his son Shani God’s house forgetting all the differences. This festival specialize relationship between the son and the father. There is another story which will tell that lord Vishnu ended the asuras. Sikhs will celebrate this festival with the name of Maghi.
The people of Orissa will prepare a dish with the uncooked rice with banana, coconut, jaggery and sesame. They keep this dish in front of the God. Rosagulla and chena puddings are also kept. The winter will be ending gradually after this festival. The people should eat a lot of good food to face the summer. The days will become longer and the nights become shorter as summer nears. This day marks the change of such season. Sun god is given more importance in this festival. This Melas are celebrated in the places like Dhabaleshwar, Hatakeshwar, Balasore and many other districts of Orissa.
This festival is special in the Makar Muni temple at Balasore. In Lord Jagannath temple this festival is called Nabanki and Uttarayana Yatra. The sun will start moving towards north after this day. The tribal population in Kalahandi, Korput, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh this festival is enjoyed by people very much. The tribal population will be very enthusiastic to celebrate the festival with great pomp and show. The tribal will enjoy this festival with dancing and also singing. They sit around the fire and eat their special foods during this day. The New Year for many tribal will start from this day.
The home made articles will be put for sale and the people will buy these handicrafts which are rare pieces of art from the tribals. On this day the Hindu calendar tell that the Sun God travels from the Dhanu Rashi to the Makara Rahsi. On this day the colorful kites are also sold and flown in the sky. These kites show respect to the sun god. The special sweet dishes will be offered to the Sun god. The people go to the nearby rivers to take a holy dip in it. This day is considered to be auspicious and the people will like to get away with their sins.
In the month of Magha this festival of Makar mela is celebrated by the Hindus. This festival is considered as the harvest season also. The new rice is also worshipped as the main food by Indians. The harvested rice is put in heaps in the villages and worshipped. The Sun god is also responsible for the harvest. He is also thanked for this food. The winter season will end and this festival marks the start of summer. People will enjoy the summer days after this maker mela.