How to turn up your celebrations for Pongal, Bihu, Makar Sankranti, Vaisakhi, Tusu, Uttarayan
January in India not only marks the beginning of another year but halfway through it, also marks the harvest season in the country. On the 14th/15th of January of every year, Indians celebrate the harvest festival in different parts of the country through different festivals.
The festivals celebrated on this day are Pongal, Bihu, Makar Sankranti, Vaisakhi, Tusu, Uttarayan, and a few more in all parts of the country. All of these festivals mark the end of the winter season, the entering of the Sun in the Capricorn sign, and marks the beginning of the harvest season. All these festivals are celebrated in different ways in India as per the different religions and the different parts of the country.
We all celebrate this day as per our traditions in our own ways. But, here is a guide to celebrating all these festivals in a little grander way than before. In this blog, we shall guide you as to how you can turn up your celebrations for Pongal, Bihu, Makar Sankranti, Vaisakhi, Tusu, Uttarayan, and other festivals.
P.S. – By no means, we are saying that you should ditch the traditional ways of celebration but here we are just trying to add some fun and nicer elements to make these festivals merrier.
Also, through these ways, you can help the newer generation understand this festival and our country better. We have designed these celebrations keeping people of every generation in mind. Through these celebrations, it is not going to be the same as before but much more pleasant.
#1 Organise a Food Festival at Home and Call your friends over
One unique thing about all these festivals is that all these festivals include some traditional food items to be devoured on this day. For example, on Makar Sankranti, people eat Khichdi, on Tusu people eat Dahi Choora, and others. So, a very interesting way to celebrate this day is to organise a little party/food festival in your house. The main motive of this party should be to prepare or order all the food items of all the festivals that are devoured on this day. Place them with a name card, the state it is famous in, and its relevance to the festival, and make it informative. Let yourself and your friends enjoy all the food items while they get to know more about them. Such a unique way to enjoy this festival and know it up close and personal.
#2 Host a Gaming Party including games of this day
Apart from the food, another very prominent thing about this festival is that on all these festivals some fun activities like games, fairs, etc are organised. You can host a gaming party and include all the traditional games and play with your friends, relatives, and kids. While playing all these games, make sure to be the host and explain the games, rules, significance to the festival and its role. The game party can be followed by the food party. Or you can have these parties separately. Not only through this, you can play lots of games but you will get closer to your tradition and know the real meaning of these games being played on this day. For example, flying kites is a major part of the Uttarayan celebrations.
#3 Organise a little Fancy Dress/Traditional Dress/ Theme Party
Each of these festivals has some traditional element added to it. People of each religion wear some specific kind of traditional clothes on this day. For example, Bihu dancers celebrate this festival by wearing their own traditional clothes. Some people believe wearing black clothes is good on the day of Makar Sankranthi. People who celebrate Tusu wear their traditional clothes. So, a party where people are dressed in different types of traditional clothes will make it so much fun. We always celebrate Halloween, and birthday parties with different themes, and go to Bollywood-themed parties, so this can be a great way to celebrate these festivals.
#4 Attend a Kite Festival/Competition
In most parts of the country including Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Mumbai, major kite festivals are organised on this festival. It is because Uttarayan is a festival where people fly kites as a part of their tradition. So, this tradition is just carried forward, people do enjoy flying kites, and hence kite festivals are organised in the country. Attending kite festivals or competitions can be really fun and amazing. There are various organisers who organise big events and reward the winners. So, if you are someone who is a pro in this, can win some great rewards.
#5 Do all the Traditional Things on this day
The best thing to do on this festival is to indulge yourself in all the traditional activities. We mean not only the activities involved in the festival that you follow but all the traditions of all religions. For example, if you are a South Indian and celebrate Pongal and the activities revolving around it, you need to celebrate the traditional activities of other festivals as well. Doing this, will bring you closer to other festivals, religions, and ultimately to your India.
#6 Story Telling Time for the Kids and GenZs
If you have kids in your home and you would like to introduce this festival to them, the best way is to organise a small storytelling session for them. In this session, you can make the kids sit down and tell them the stories behind these festivals, the significance of these festivals, how they are celebrated, why they are celebrated, and things to do on this day. This is also apt for the GenZs because they are the newer generation and might be away from the traditional stories. This is going to be fun and informative.
#7 Decorate the Home Traditionally
Finally, one of the best ways to turn up the celebrations of this festival is by decorating your house traditionally using the elements of these festivals. It would bring you closer to your traditions, you will have one more day to look forward to in the whole year, you will also motivate other people to enjoy this festival to the core, and you will have a fantastic break from your regular days.
Conclusion
We made sure to include easy and fun ways in which you can celebrate these festivals and stay closer to your traditions. With the world progressing towards the culture of the West (which is not wrong), we are slowly staying behind when it comes to celebrating our traditions and. culture. These ways will help you make this day fun and filled with cute activities. These ways of celebration will also make you look forward to this day and create traditions of your own.
January in India not only marks the beginning of another year but halfway through it, also marks the harvest season in the country. On the 14th/15th of January of every year, Indians celebrate the harvest festival in different parts of the country through different festivals. The festivals celebrated on this day are Pongal, Bihu, Makar…