Being from South India, I know the importance of Makar Sankranti and the way it is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh. My neighbors are from Bihar. I was telling Urmila (my neighbor) that she would prepare Dahi Vadas, Cabbage Vadas, Lemon Rice, Coconut Chutney and Milk Pudding for the occasion. She added that she has to prepare GHUGHUTIS. I looked at her in a zapped way. . . what are they now
She narrated the story of King Chandra Vamshi Kalyan Singh and his cruel minister Ghuguti. After her story, I was surprised to learn that the festival is celebrated in order to greet and thank the BLACK CROWS by little children. As an environmentalist and supportive feminist, she was very happy to learn more about it. In short, the story is about the little prince of the king who was kidnapped by the cruel Minister and was making plans to kill him. The boy was always busy playing with his precious necklaces and sharing his leftover food with the black crows in his palace. When the black crows observe that the prince was being killed by the Minister, thousands of crows gather together, create chaos with their harsh sounds and severely injure the Minister. In the end, they manage to save the boy’s life, and the royal parents are very happy about this. They punish the horrible minister by killing him and dismembering his body. These were distributed to the crows. However, the hunger of the crows could not suffice. The couple arranges to cook various snacks and sweets for them and greet these birds. They tell the crows that edibles are ghugutis to them. It turned out to be an annual affair for them. Now it has become mandatory and essential for the people of Bihar to carry on the tradition. This is the story behind the great celebrations.
The next day I watched Urmila preparing sweets and snacks. They took the form of grenades, drums, knives, swords, etc. She took a needle and thread and made a beautiful necklace out of these groceries. She put an orange in the center of her garland. The little boys were ready and in their new clothes. They met at the front door. They had worn these garlands around their necks and singing the following song:
“Kale kauwa kale, Ghuguti mala khale,
El kauwa talwar, mein ke diye bhal-bhal parivaar,
El kauwa bada, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununka ghad,
The kauwa approaching, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga sainga.
El kauwa poori, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga cchhuri.
El kauwa gojaun, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga bhojho.
The kauwa dhal, mein ke diye bhal-sununka thaal. “
The kids were doing their best to attract the crows by showing off the groceries. These were broken into small pieces and thrown to the crows. Once the birds consumed, they thanked them out loud. They went on to say, “Thank you Crows, I want you to visit us next year too.” This really touched my heart and I really admired them.
Being a traditional environmental feminist, I started thinking about the following argument:
a) If in our culture there are customs in which adults and children know how to respect their environment and non-human animals, then there would be no harm to them.
b) I felt satisfied and convinced in a very positive way that there are customs and rituals where each one of us is responsible with the environment and animals, be they cows, bulls, goats, chickens or black crows. In this case of Makar Sankranti, it is observed that God Sun visits his sons Lord Of Death-Yamaraj and Shani Deva-The Lord Of Misfortunes. The black crows are the ambassadors of Yamaraj and Shani Deva. It is customary for all Hindus to pay their respects to their ancestors and offer part of their food to crows. This is a mark of greeting the departed. Dishes are also prepared for them. Children are educated and educated by these customs to take care of their environment and the animals that appear in it. This has been observed through the rituals followed in the Makar Sankranti celebrations.
c) Therefore, we know that no harm would be done to non-human animals in the given society. Each of us knows how to respect them.
In fact, the festival is celebrated in honor of non-human animals. In all regions of India, young people, children or adults pray and offer various things to the animals. These can include rice, corn, brown sugar, legumes, wheat flour, sweets, snacks, etc. In Bihar, the festival is called KALE KAUVE which means “BLACK CROWS”. Older people teach and demonstrate the ritual and participate with young children. I really liked the zeal with which the holiday is celebrated and how certain values are transmitted from one generation to another in the spirit of religion. SAVE BLACK CROWS and we salute you on this day. . . we honor you!!!