WHY PEOPLE CELEBRATE BHOGI

'bhogi' celebration & practises

Bhogi (భోగి: Telugu) is the first day of the four-day Pongal festival. According to the Gregorian calendar it is normally celebrated on 13 January but sometimes it is celebrated on 14 January. In Tamil Calendar, this corresponds to last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi. It is a festival celebrated widely in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. On Bhogi, people discard old and derelict things and concentrate on new things causing change or transformation. At dawn, people light a bonfire with logs of wood, other solid-fuels and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful.[1] The disposal of derelict things is where all old habits, vices, attachment to relations and material things are sacrificed in the sacrificial fire of the knowledge of Rudra, known as the "Rudra Gita Jnana Yajna". It represents realisation, transformation and purification of the soul by imbibing and inculcating various divine virtues. Bhogi is celebrated the day preceding Thai Pongal, Makar Sankranti and Lohri.

Here are the five reasons why India celebrates Bhogi.




1. To Mark the Harvest Festival Bhogi is a festival of preparation for Pongal - the major harvest festival.






2. To Drive Away Pests from the Paddy Fields The farmers in the villages of Tamilnadu, South India celebrate ‘Bhogi’ before harvesting their fully-grown crops. They gather all the dry leaves and weeds outside the fields and burn them. The smoke created by burning the waste surrounds the fields, driving away the pests, and clearing the fields for harvest the next day.






3. To Make Way for New Things People clean their houses and discard unwanted and old things to make place for new things.






4. To Drive Away Evil Spirits People play the ‘Bhogi Molam’ while burning waste as a custom to drive away evil spirits out of their houses and villages.






5. To Clear the Minds of Evil Thoughts ‘Bhogi’ is also celebrated as a ritual to clear people’s mind of evil thoughts and embrace pure and new thinking. So the festival of Bhogi makes way for the great celebration of Pongal. Yet it is a festival in its own right, too.



Happy Bhogi and happy Pongal.