Makar Sankranti, the colourful harvest festival, was celebrated on Tuesday with pomp and gaiety across Tripura among Tribal and Bengali populations. Devotees took holy dip into cold waters of Chakmaghat, Tirthamukh, Gomati, Howrah and other rivers and lakes across Tripura.
Makar Sankranti is a harvest festival that marks the day when the sun starts to travel northwards from the tropic of Capricorn, marking the decline of winter. In the rural areas, the villagers were witnessed to be celebrating the festival with more fervent - Sankranti being a harvest festival after all. Cattle are worshipped and thanked for the vital role they play in the life of farmers and their families. With another new day of rejoice and happiness, the people today as per the tradition has taken a bath during the dawn hours with the Bengali ladies later getting busy making patty, popularly known as “Pitha”.
The women today especially in the rural Tripura have made their house dirt free early in the morning and have drawn a rangolis, commonly known as “Alpona” in their house courtyard. On the other the children after taking their bath sat for a picnic in their handmade small hut, known as “Burir Ghor”.
Though the celebration of traditional festivals seem to be on the decline in many urban centers, but starting from the adults to the children in the urban cities did celebrated the Poush Sankranti with much fervor and gaiety.