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JANUARY IS A MONTH of severe cold in northern India. In the south,
while the nights are chill, the days are certainly more clement
and sun-warmed. In rural India, farmers look forward to the ripening
of their crops of rice, wheat, sugarcane and a variety of pulses.
This is also the time for millions of rural Indians to light bonfires
of dried wood and hay in their courtyards and relax in the cold,
star-studded twilight.
The Christian New Year on the first day of January has become a
national celebration irrespective of religion or creed. People in
urban India stay awake to welcome the new year and merrymaking continues
till the sun's first rays light up the eastern horizon. Prayers,
parties and festoons welcome the advent of a new year. It is also
the time to remember friends through the exchange of cards carrying
good wishes.
North In small-town India however~the first major festival in the
month of January is Makar Sankranti, Lohri or PongaL According to
the lunar calendar, the sun transits from the Tropic of Cancer into
the Tropic of Capricorn from Dakshinayana into Uttarayana in the
month Poush in mid-January. The sun thus begins to face the northern
hemisphere of the earth.
THAI
PUSAM : Thrnuah Faifh And Fire Thai is a Tamil
month which coincides with Magh. It is most sacred to devotees of
Kartikeya who is worshipped specially when the Pusam star rises
in this month. At many south Indian temples, trenches of burning
coals arc laid out for devotees to walk over. In a similar custom,
Mariamman, a deity popular in southern India, is also worshipped
with a fire walk.
