As I am from South India, I know the importance of Makar Sankranti and how it is celebrated in Andhra Pradesh. My neighbors are from Bihar. I was narrating to Urmila (my neighbor) that I would be preparing Dahi Vadas, Cabbage Vadas, Lemon Rice, Coconut Chutney and Milk Pudding for the occasion. He added that he has to prepare GHUGHUTIS. I looked at her in an exhausted way. . . what are they now
She narrated the story of Chandra Vamshi King Kalyan Singh and his cruel minister Ghughuti. After her story, I was amazed to learn that the festival is held to salute and thank the BLACK CROWS of young children. As an ecologist and caring feminist, I was very happy to learn more about it. In short, the story is about the king’s child prince 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, creating chaos with their harsh sounds and seriously injuring the minister. In the end, they managed to save the child’s life and the real parents are very happy about this. They punish the horrible minister by putting him to death and cutting his body to pieces. These were distributed to the crows. However, he could not satisfy the crows’ hunger. The couple arrange to cook various snacks and sweets for them and to greet these birds. They tell the crows that edibles are ghughutis to them. It turned out to be an annual event for them. Now it has become mandatory and essential for the people of Bihar to continue the tradition. This is the story behind the great celebrations.
The next day I observed Urmila preparing sweets and sandwiches. They took the form of grenades, drums, knives, swords, etc. She took a needle and thread and made a beautiful necklace out of these edibles. She put an orange in the middle of the garland. The little boys were ready and in their new clothes. They met at the front door. They wore these garlands around their necks and sang the following song:
“Kale kauwa kale, Ghughuti mala khale,
The kauwa talwar, mein ke diye bhal-bhal parivaar,
The kauwa bada, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununka ghad,
The kauwa is coming, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga sainga.
The kauwa poori, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga cchhuri.
The kauwa gojaun, mein ke diye bhal-bhal sununga bhojho.
The kauwa dhal, mein ke diye bhal-sununka thaal. “
The children were doing their best to attract the crows by showing the groceries. These were broken into small pieces and thrown to the crows. Once the birds consumed, they thanked them out loud. They continued saying, “Thank you Cuervos, I want you to visit us next year as well.” This really touched my heart and I really admired them.
Being a traditional environmental feminist, I started thinking about the following argument:
a) If there are customs in our culture 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 was satisfied and convinced in a very positive way that there are customs and rituals where each of us is responsible for the environment and animals, be they cows, bulls, goats, chickens or black crows. In this case of Makar Sankranti, it is observed that the Sun God visits his sons, the 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 homage to their ancestors and offer part of their food to crows. This is a mark of greetings to the deceased. Dishes are also prepared for them. Children are groomed and taught by these customs to take care of their environment and the animals that come out in it. This has been observed through the rituals followed in the Makar Sankranti celebrations.
c) Therefore, we know that there would be no harm caused to non-human animals in the given society. Each of us knows how to respect them.
In fact, the festival is held to honor non-human animals. In all regions of India, young people, children or adults pray and offer various things to 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 show the ritual and participate with young children. I really liked the zeal with which the festival is celebrated and how certain values are transmitted from one generation to another in the spirit of religion. HEALTH TO THE BLACK CROWS and we salute you on this day. . . we honor you !!!