Happy Bhogi!

I love walking the streets during Bhogi and Sankranti time. The morning bhogi bonfires, women cleaning up their front yards and settling down to draw muggulu, people flocking round the fires.

 

So when I stepped out of home at 615 it was just dawn but on both sides I could see the glow of beautiful bhogi fires. As I walked past them there was this warmth that came through. Couple of old gentlemen in our colony went about complimenting each fire maker.

 

And then this, two women from the house in front of mine, deeply engrossed in drawing the muggu. The care they take in drawing, coloring and giving messages is beautiful. Its as if they are given permission to do that this particular day or festival. And they do it with all the passion of an artist.

Bhogi mantalu

Most had proper logs. Few had old wood to burn. One place I saw an old stool being burnt. Then many rotten old planks that were being burnt. One cute one in SR Nagar with twigs and dried wood. I saw one solitary old man with the littlest fire and he was burning some cloth.

Big one!

This was a huge one, with big logs, the biggest I have seen in years. Some of them had a vessel on the fire - wonder what they were heating!  In this big fire, some of the logs were colored - again, wonder if there is some significance. 

Happy Bhogi

Liked the symbol of a fire and the message!

Beautiful

This one I saw in front of a house in SR Nagar. It must have been done well before my walk because the door and the gate were shut. But it was so striking. 

Another elaborate one with a message 'Sankranti Subhakankshalu'.

I found that colonies like ours or Czech colony had proper fires with logs and even a base. I could see the watchmen of each apartment going about making arrangements. I decided to go to the Sanatnagar area where the roads are narrower. Surprisingly far fewer fires there.  

This was one of the few fires and I liked how most people in the apartment came down and clicked a picture. In fact the one clicking a picture is a passerby they caught and got to click. One happy bunch they were.

Happy Bhogi!