When the harvest festival comes in Bengaluru

‘Ellu Bella’, a mixture of five main ingredients – Sesame seeds, Jaggery, desiccated coconut pieces, Roasted Nuts and roasted Gram dal, and Sugar candy packets, is used in the Makara Sankranti festival. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

Bengaluru south resident Sachin Rai remembers a time when the area near what is today Bannerghatta Road had green agricultural fields with an abundance of ragi and groundnut. “I remember the farmers complaining that elephants are entering the fields and destroying the crops. The herds would later return to Bannerghatta, the Anekal forest areas,” he recalled, describing it as something that continued until the turn of the century.

Decorated bulls and cows are made to walk through fire as a ritual during the Makara Sankranti festival at the Bull Temple in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: K BHAGYA PRAKASH

But as the city of Bengaluru has grown, swallowing up the surrounding villages — becoming the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike — and all the farmlands, all this is a thing of the past. But come Makara Sankranthi, Bengaluru’s markets acquire a certain “agricultural” feel.

People buy ‘Ellu Bella’, a mixture of five essential ingredients – Sesame seeds, Jaggery, dried coconut pieces, Roasted Nuts and Fried Gram dal, sugar candy packets, and other festival items at a shop in Gandhi Bazaar, Basavanagudi, on. the day before the festival of Makara Sankranti. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

There are a number of nuts, avare kayi (hyacinth beans) and ingredients that go into traditional culture. in bella (mixture of til and jaggery). There are bunches of sugarcane and mounds of flowers too. Although several farming areas have disappeared, these new products for the annual harvest festival come from nearby areas.

Pourakarmikas celebrate Sankranthi festival. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

A ring of houses

Bengaluru is surrounded by a ring of towns and villages like Hoskote, Devanahalli, Nelamangala, Ramanagara and Anekal which is a way of life in the city that provides its agricultural products, especially vegetables, fruits and vegetables, known for grapes, pamelos, avare kayi. among others. The neighboring districts of Kolar and Chikkaballapur are among the largest producers of mangoes and tomatoes in the country. The annual Kadlekai Parishe, celebrated in Basavanagudi area, is also a reminder of the time when groundnut was grown in the region.

People flock to KR Market to buy flowers, fruits, vegetables and other items used in this festival, the day before Makara Sankranti celebrations. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

However, as the influence of the city has expanded horizontally, many of these agricultural areas are threatened. Gated communities and mud houses now dot these areas, land prices have skyrocketed and realtors have made big changes. Although agriculture and farming are still the backbone of these areas and the city is its main market, this symbiotic relationship is very much in danger today.

A lot of sugarcane stocks arrive in the city at Mobeni Mandi, KR Market, from the surrounding districts, on the eve of Sankranti. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

In many words

This is what makes Sankranti — a festival celebrated across the country with different names by different agricultural communities like Pongal, Lohri, Bihu and many others — so precious.