Makar Sankranti - 3

[Guest guest]

There is a common belief among the locals that

the girls who take the holy dip get handsome grooms

and the boys get beautful brides. When they are done

with the ritual obligations, they head towards the

Kapilmuni Temple situated nearby, to worship the deity as a

mark of respect. A block of stone, which is anointed

and worshipped, represents the great sage, Kapila

Muni referred to in the legend. The original site of

the temple has been washed away by the sea. But an

attractive new temple has replaced the previous temple.

<br><br>Til and rice being the two important ingredients of

this festival, people have a special rice-centric meal

on this day. On this day, people come from all over

India for a ceremonial cleansing in the river Hooghly,

near Kolkata (Calcutta). Women clean the houses and

prepare delicious traditional rice-sweets called

‘Pithey’. Sweets like ‘Kheer’, ‘Puli’, ‘Gokul Pithey’,

‘Paatishapta’, ‘Satipitha’, etc, are prepared from the palm

‘gur’ (jaggery).