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Sankranti and the crossing of fire in Karnataka

On Makara Sankranti in rural Karnataka, decorated cattle are led across a low bed of burning straw: kichchu haayisuvudu.

These 'tilguls', traditional marathi laddoos eaten on Makar Sankranti day.
Photo: Saloni Desai, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cattle at Sankranti and the crossing of fire in Karnataka

Makara Sankranti marks the sun's passage into Capricorn and the end of the main harvest. In the villages of southern Karnataka the cattle share the day. They are washed in the morning, their horns painted and hung with flowers and ribbons, and in the evening they are made to step or run across a line of burning hay laid on the ground, a custom called kichchu haayisuvudu, said to ward off disease and bad luck for the year ahead. Owners usually lead the animals by hand, and the fire is low and quick. Families also exchange ellu bella, a mixture of sesame, jaggery, coconut and groundnut, with neighbours.

The breeds

HallikarThe grey draught breed of old Mysore, at the heart of village Sankranti.Amrit MahalThe fast draught bullocks bred for the kings of Mysore.Malnad GiddaThe small hill cattle of the Western Ghats.

Also part of it, and being written: Krishna Valley (The heavy plough cattle of the north Karnataka river plains.).

About this page

Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Makar Sankranti" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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