Parasuram Kund - Day 5

We woke up with excitement on Day 5 and there were many reasons for the same. It was Maker Sankranti, the most important day of our yatra. It was also Pongal – all the ladies were prepared to celebrate it in style. It was also a day to do Tarpanam (offering of water with sesame seeds to one’s ancestors) although there were two opinions on what is the most appropriate day – 14^th or 15^th. Some people preferred to do in the afternoon of 14^th itself while some decided to do it on the morning hours of 15^th.

Colourful Rangoli

On this day, we waited for the bathrooms to become free for having our bath as most of the activity was to begin later in the afternoon only. We finished our morning ablutions leisurely. A handful of yatris went up to Hanuman temple to do the morning prayers there. The rest of us stayed back. The place outside our lodging was getting crowded with hordes of visitors all wanting to take a dip at the Kund on this auspicious day. We saw hundreds of busses at the parking area and a nearby open area had become a market with many makeshift shops which had virtually sprung up overnight. They were selling all kinds of thing from fruits, nuts, trinkets, vessels, knives both kitchen variety and ones used for fighting (swords), towels (for people who forgot to carry them), warm clothing, purses, belts etc. We had a good time going around and checking them out.

Pongal O Pongal

Meanwhile back at the lodging, the ladies had also finished their daily ritual of Surya Arghyam and were preparing for the Pongal celebrations. The center of the lodging, where we used to have our meals daily, got swept & cleaned for the rituals. Elaborate rangoli were drawn here by a few lady yatris, pictures of Shankaracharya’s & deities were placed and decorated with garlands and preparations for the traditional cooking of Pongal were made by creating a temporary hearth using bricks and dry sticks. All the ladies were in colourful sarees making the place look festive and, to add to the spirit, someone stated playing nice devotional songs using a portable speaker.

In the afternoon, around 1 pm, an earthen pot was filled with water and rice and the fire was light. Within some time, the water started boiling and, soon thereafter it overflowed from the pot and everyone joyfully exclaimed ‘Pongal O Pongal’. The ladies had an impromptu dance around the pot moving in rhythm to the music playing in the background. After this, each of them added some jaggery to the pot to make sweet Pongal. This was later mixed with the regular sweet Pongal prepared by the cooks. Then there was a Surya pooja done to mark the occasion of Sun’s transit in the Northerly direction.

Colourful Pongal celebrations

Post this, some of the men yatris did their tarpanam – interestingly they added “Parasuram Kund Kshetre, Lohita Nadi Teere” in their sankalpam mantras. I made a note of this for I planned to do my tarpanam the next morning. Each of us had carried the necessary items required for tarpanam – darbha grass / Pavitram, Koorcham, sesame seeds, plate to pour the water, fresh clothes (some were carrying silk clothes) for this ritual, asanam etc.  While this was going on, some yatris were busy doing distributing prasadam of sweet & salty Pongal for the visitors on the streets outside our gate. As in the previous day, this was received very well. We soon ran out of the leaf cups and had to stop the distribution. Lunch was delayed that day due to all the above. I didn’t mind as it was Ekadashi and I was fasting. Yatris had lunch post 4 pm that day.

Later in the evening, a few yatris went up to the Hanuman temple to do the evening prayers. The others went to the Mela area and did last minute shopping as we were departing from PK the next morning. It was quite windy & cold but the mood was good. The sight of large crowds, shops etc. made the place look lively. The thoughts of moving out the next day also lifted our spirits. We came back and repacked our bags. Most people skipped dinner on account of the late lunch. The catering staff got some respite due to this. The evening ended with happy thoughts of the days events as well as of the day ahead,