Bhogi

Bhogi
Type Seasonal, traditional
Significance Midwinter festival
Celebrations Bonfire
Date 14 January
Related to Sankranti
Pongal
Bihu (Bhogali / Magh /Bhogi in Telugu)


The day preceding Sankranti is called Bhogi (భోగి: Telugu). Bhogi is the festival celebrated widely in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. On Bhogi, people discard old and derelict things and concentrate on new things causing change or transformation. At dawn, people light a bonfire with logs of wood, other solid-fuels and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful.[1] The disposal of derelict things is where all old habits, vices, attachment to relations and material things are sacrificed in the sacrificial fire of the knowledge of Rudra, known as the "Rudra Gita Jnana Yajna". It represents realization, transformation and purification of the soul by imbibing and inculcating various divine virtues.

References

  1. Post Jagran Article 15 01 2014