Bhogi is the first of the three days of Sankranti, the harvest festival that is the biggest of the Telugu year. Before dawn, families light a bonfire in the street, the Bhogi mantalu, and feed it with whatever is worn out: old mats, broken furniture, the clutter of the year. It is the last day of the Sun's southward course and of the month of Dhanurmasam.
The story
The day is named for Indra, the Bhogi, lord of rain and plenty, whom farmers thanked when the paddy was in. The fire is older than any story told about it: the last cold morning of midwinter, and a household clearing itself out before the new season.
It is also the day Goda Devi (Andal) is married to Ranganatha. Through Dhanurmasam, Vaishnava temples sing one verse of her Tiruppavai each dawn; on Bhogi the thirty verses are complete and Goda Kalyanam is celebrated.
How the day goes
- Bhogi mantaluThe bonfire is lit well before sunrise at the street corner. In the weeks before, children string garlands of dried cow-dung cakes (pidakalu) to throw into it.
- MugguluThe largest rangoli of the year are drawn in rice flour at every doorstep, with a gobbemma, a ball of cow dung crowned with a pumpkin or marigold flower, set at the centre.
- Bhogi palluIn the evening small children are seated and showered with regi pallu (jujube fruit), flower petals, coins and bits of sugarcane, to ward off the evil eye and wish them a long life.
- Bommala koluvuMany homes set out a stepped display of dolls for the three days of the festival.
- Coming homeThe first of the new rice is cooked, and married daughters and sons-in-law arrive at the family house for the festival.
Why this date
Bhogi is the day before Makara Sankranti. It follows the Sun, not the Moon, so it hardly moves: 13 or 14 January in almost every year. This calendar keeps Sankranti on the day the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn), or on the next day when that happens after midday, and Bhogi is the day before that.
Bhogi in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Monday | |
| 2026 | Wednesday | |
| 2027 | Thursday | |
| 2028 | Friday | |
| 2029 | Saturday | |
| 2030 | Monday |
More Telugu festivals
15 JanuaryMakara Sankrantiమకర సంక్రాంతి
16 JanuaryKanumaకనుమ
25 JanuaryRatha Saptamiరథ సప్తమి
15 FebruaryMaha Sivaratriమహా శివరాత్రి
3 MarchHoliహోళీ
19 MarchUgadiఉగాది
Where to see Bhogi
In the Telugu states
- KonaseemaAndhra PradeshThe coconut-and-canal country of the Godavari delta is where Telugu people go to see Sankranti kept in the old way, bonfire, muggulu and all.
- Venkateswara Temple, TirumalaAndhra PradeshDhanurmasam ends here with the last of the Tiruppavai, sung each dawn of the month in place of the Suprabhatam.
- Shilparamam, HyderabadTelanganaFor those who cannot leave the city, the crafts village stages Sankranti Sambaralu with Haridasulu, Gangireddulu and a Bhogi fire.
Across India
- SrivilliputhurTamil NaduThe birthplace of Andal, where her wedding to the Lord closes the month of her songs.
- AmritsarPunjabPunjab lights its own midwinter bonfire on the same night and calls it Lohri.
- GuwahatiAssamOn Uruka, the eve of Magh Bihu, Assam feasts in temporary huts and burns the tall meji stacks at dawn.