Sankranti Reflections

I remember the sweet smell of jaggery floating through the kitchen as I was heating it into a syrup last Makar Sankranti. After it bubbled a bit, I poured sesame seeds into the pot and stirred the viscous mixture. I was trying to make it into laddus, and all I knew was whatever my mother told me about her mother’s recipe. Although I wasn’t able to roll the sesame-jaggery concoction into perfectly round shapes last year, it still made for a delicious dessert. My mother told me stories about the tradition of eating sesame-based sweets for Sankranti in her home states of Bihar and Odisha in eastern India, and always loved to hear about my friends’ different ways of celebrating the only major Hindu festival based on the solar calendar. It signifies the sun’s return after overcast days and the restful winter giving way to a vibrant spring.

Coming from an inter-caste family with roots in different parts of India, I’m amazed by the diversity of Hindu traditions, and Sankranti is no exception. In Gujarat, it is known as Uttarayan and is famously celebrated as a festival of kite-flying. Celebrations can often last for multiple days, especially in Telugu and Tamil-speaking areas. Pongal, observed by Tamil communities, is celebrated with a namesake dish made from freshly harvested rice. The day before Sankranti is celebrated as Lohri in Punjab (both India and Pakistan) and other parts of northwestern India, with communal gatherings around bonfires, offering a source of warmth during chilly winters. It’s also celebrated as Poush Sangkranti in Bengal, Magh Bihu in Assam, Maghe Sankranti in Nepal, Suggi Habba in Karnataka, and many other places in South Asia.

In this day and age, Hindu beliefs and rituals are being homogenized and used to sow seeds of division rather than build community. As progressive Hindus, it is key for us to emphasize holidays like Sankranti to not only show that the beauty of our faith lies in the diversity of our traditions, but also divest from other practices that are often rooted in Brahminical values that literally demonize indigenous communities. Regardless of where the celebration takes place, people of all castes and religions gather to give thanks to the sun and nature for providing a bountiful winter harvest. Especially for those of us with caste and class privilege, this would be a wonderful opportunity to redistribute our wealth as a token of appreciation for the struggles of farmers and laborers. At Hindus for Human Rights, we are looking forward to a spring of growth while continuing to speak up for equality across the world.

Since I’m fortunate enough to spend Makar Sankranti with my family again this year, I’m giving the laddus another try. But I’ll remember making something different (and still delicious) out of that sesame jaggery mixture last year just as we try to build new, progressive Hindu rituals centered around care, love, and sticking together in community.

Sathvik Nair