Makara Sankranti is a festival which celebrated all over India with different names like Pongal, Maghi, Kicheri, Uttarayana, etc. In Odisha, people prepare makar chaula (Odia: ମକର ଚାଉଳ), uncooked newly harvested rice, banana, coconut, jaggery, sesame, Rasagola, Khai/Liaa and chhena puddings for naivedya to gods and goddesses. This festival holds traditional cultural significance.
On this day, people also worship the harvested rice in the house. Every part of Odisha celebrates this festival with different names also. Besides the usual rituals, people of Orissa, especially Western Orissa, reaffirm the strength of the bond of friendship with their best friends during this occasion.
On this festival, people fly kites in all over India. In Gujarat and Rajasthan, people also plans some functional celebration for the kites. In Odisha, a number of kites fly at the bank of Mahanadi in Cuttack.
"The symphony of freshly harvested paddy grains with chhena, jaggery, ginger, banana, and crushed pepper, the kite flying in the sides of river Mahanadi, songs of Akshaya Mohanty and good food= Makar Sankranti for me." Says Swetapadam Satpathy.
* All these photographs are taken by Swetepadma Satapathy, Sweta Biswal, Surajit Mishra and the art created by Saswat Debadatta.
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