Bhelaghar....In A Small Assamese Village

This is the concluding part of my series on Bhogali bihu(a winter harvesting festival) of Assam.On the eve of Sankranti(URUKA) a special temporary makeshift cottage or a small house like structure called Bhelaghar is made .This structure is mainly built by the men folk using Bamboo,hay,wood -pieces .After preparing and enjoying a feast inside the bhelaghar,men spend the night there and in the early hours of the next morning lit the bhelaghar down.Its ashes are then spread to the fields and the trees to bring luck for a better harvesting in future .Usually it is a small hut like structure but for the last two years youths of MISAKHOLAHAAT a village 5-6 kms away from our village have started a trend of making it in a grand way.The picture above was clicked from the area where our car was parked.

Last year they made a bhelaghar nearly 40 ft high consisting five floors and because of its uniqueness instead of burning it down the next morning it was retained for a week as the village saw many visitors from the nearby villages and town.This year encouraged by the enthusiasm of the spectators last year the makers of this bhelaghar added another floor which made it approx 44ft high .And if it was not enough they made another small bhelaghar right behind this and attached both the ghars by a bamboo bridge.On asking the villagers told us that for the vertical post they used Tamul tree(betelnut tree) and for the horizontal post i.e. the floor they used Bamboo.The post were tied together by the Tongal(a rope made with the thin shreds of bamboo) and plastic strings too were used to make the structure stronger.The total expenditure was nearly 5000Rs. and it took them more than two weeks to make it.

All my family members climbed the structure except for me and my son .It was fun as i could hear the kids giggle and laugh a lot.As the people climbed i could see the structure shake.My son was very upset with me for not allowing him to accompany his sister,cousins and dad.See the picture below.

The crying went on for quite sometime until one of our neighbour gifted him this small kid(a baby goat)....and it made me wonder how am i going to take care of this one along with two kids of my own and a Labrador .God heard me at that point...my son heard the mother goat looking for him and that really concerned him,he picked the baby goat and kept it near the mom goat and said ..you must stay back with your mom ,otherwise she is going to cry....well.....

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Meji ....Bhogali Bihu

Magh Bihu is celebrated in the month of Jan.to mark the end of harvesting season.As the granaries are full,this harvesting festival is observed all over Assam.The word BHOGALI comes from the word Bhog which means eating and enjoying. the day of Uruka i.e. the eve of sankranti ,Bhellaghar and Mejis are made particularly by the menfolk,with bamboo sticks,hay and wood pieces.A community feast is held on the uruka nite inside the Bhellaghar(a makeshift cottage).Next day both the Bhellaghar and Mejis are burnt.As I mentioned in my previous post that I am going to tell you about burning of the Meji on the day of bihu.On the day of Sankranti or Bihu we gather at our fields at very early hrs in the morning.Meji burning is a ritual where we worship fire(Agni).Here you can see  Meji prepared by the people of our village,earlier years it used to be very huge but as most of the youth have left the village for higher education and for jobs...very few people are left behind to help in this.

It was a very cold morning.As soon as we reached near the Meji we kept our offerings on the ground at the base of the meji.Very carefully we lighted earthen lamps(diyas or sakis) .After all the offerings were placed one of the elders of the community did the honor of lighting up the meji.I was standing at a far distance to capture a full view of the happenings at that time but could still feel the heat of the meji.A thick cloud of smoke soon covered the area.

As the fire burned we heard crackling sound of burning and bursting bamboos -the sound is very similar to firecrackers.Kids love the sound and eagerly waited for more to come.While the meji was burning we took the opportunity to greet and invite each other to our home for eating pithas and jolpan(snacks).As we are a guest there we end up accepting many invites ....some invite with a warning attached...hummm,last year you missed our house so don't dare to repeat the mistake !

Once the meji is completely burnt....ladies start distributing all the offerings as prasad to the people present there .
The ashes are collected and put on our foreheads as tilak....as you can see in this picture.Now we go back to our home and after a heavy breakfast without wasting a single minute we visit all the people who are our relatives(many) and our good neighbours(many ).In other words we spent most of our day eating and having a good time with the family and friends.

Bhogali Bihu Of Assam - Uruka Bhoj And Making Of Sunga- Pitha.

I was away from blogger for sometime as i was on a vacation....Just like every year this year too me and my family celebrated Bhogali /Magh Bihu  in our village house.Namkhola is a small village near Mangaldoi in Assam.Bhogali bihu is a harvest festival which marks the end of winter harvesting.The term Bhog means enjoyment,merriment and luxury...this is the time of the year when granaries are full .There is lots of feasting and enjoyment all over the Assam during this time (mid Jan to mid Feb).The same festival is observed all over India as Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Lohri .We usually reach Namkhola on the day of Uruka i.e. the eve of Sankranti. On this eve people organise Bhoj(feast) either within the family or in groups.We like to keep it as an only family feast.This year as my daughter's school was open on the day of Uruka ,we left for our village only after lunch ,so by the time we reached there it was almost dusk.It is almost a two and half hour drive from Guwahati,on our way we saw more than hundred Mejis  and few Bhellaghars (I will explain to you about them in my next two posts).Above is one such picture of an unusual Bhellaghar built by the people of a village we crossed.

As we reached our home we saw Nirah making arrangements for the preparation of Sunga-Pitha.Well I must explain here that Pithas are special delicacies prepared in many forms by various methods like steaming,frying or by baking over a hot plate.Special skill is needed to make Sunga Pitha.Sunga means Bamboo.The Bamboo is cut into the desired sizes as shown in the pictures below. Bora Sawal( a special variety of rice which is very sticky in nature and has a very unique taste and aroma) is the main ingredient of this recipe.....the rice is pre -soaked and the Sungas are washed .Because this pitha is cooked inside Bamboo ,it offers a special flavour  .

Usha she has been working with our family for a period of more than twenty years.Making sunga peethas with Usha on the day of Uruka is the part I love the most.The sungas are filled with pre soaked rice and little water.Once filled the ends of the sunga are covered by tying banana leaves.

Now all the filled sungas are arranged or inclined in a row over the stand which was prepared before.As I mentioned earlier one needs to be an expert to carry out this process....and Usha is one such person.Kids were super excited(mine are in pink and orange jackets),you never see them so happy and joyful while visiting a Mc'Donald's or a Pizza hunt or a Super Mall.While a continuous flame of very mild kind is required here,a wood fire is not recommended to avoid too much of heat as it will burn the bamboo or sunga...instead Hay is used .At the beginning a small heap of hay is burnt ,to which additional hay is added at frequent intervals by the help of a thin bamboo stick.It is a long process while Usha was busy here and the kids running around here and there we adults were chatting enjoying the bon fire .

I took this picture to show you how the hay is used here......after a certain time the fire is stopped to turn the sides of the sungas for uniform cooking of the peethas...once turned again the same process is repeated.Cooking outside the house over wood flame is another big attraction of Uruka-feast.The menu ranges from all kind of meats like mutton,chicken,duck and fish(right from our own fish pond).Because i am a strict vegetarian my dishes were prepared in the kitchen...it was a Labda(a mix veg curry),very fresh paneer curry(paneer is cottage cheese...it was freshly prepared at home ) and another fried vegetable dish.Food cooked over wood fire has its own taste....many find it many times tastier than the food cooked over our kitchen stoves.

We served the food on special natural plates....the sheets of banana stem are used as plates as you can see here.This picture was clicked while the steaming hot rice was just served to the kids after a heavy session of eating loads of fried fish and fried chicken.After a great dinner we called it a night as we needed to get up very early in the morning to take part in Meji  burning.

Next morning Usha sliced the sungas to scoop out the pithas.

Sunga peetha as a breakfast is a real treat on the day of Bihu...it is consumed with either milk or curd and sugar or jaggery(molasses) as a sweetener.But we needed to wait here because breakfast would be served only after  burning of the Meji out in the fields.At this time we the ladies of the house were busy preparing the offerings to the God.....to be continued.