The renowned Art & Skills trainer Mamatha N Swamy has come up with two videos to promote the novel ways of celebrating Sankranti Festival. In one video she demonstrated the decoration of earthen Pots for gifting ‘Ellu Bella’ ( Sesame Seeds, Jaggery and peanuts mix).
Makar Sankranti, which marks the first day of Sun’s transit into Makara (Capricorn) marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the commencement of longer days, is celebrated in India in January each year.
In the other video, she shows the simple way of decorating home to enhance the festivity fervor with Sugar cane, Flat Beans, Tuber, Groundnut and other agricultural produces.
It is the Suggi or harvest festival for farmers of Karnataka. On this auspicious day, girls wear new clothes to visit near and dear ones with a Sankranti offering in a small earthen pot and exchange the same with other families.
This ritual is called “Ellu Birodhu.” Here the pot would normally contain “Ellu” (white sesame seeds) mixed with fried groundnuts, neatly cut dry coconut and fine cut Bella (jaggery). The mixture is called “Ellu-Bella”. The pot also contains pieces of moulded sugar candy and a piece of sugarcane.
There is a saying in Kannada “
This festival signifies the harvest of the season since sugarcane is predominant in these parts. Ellu Bella, Ellu Unde, bananas, sugarcane, red berries, haldi and kumkum and small gift items useful in everyday lives are often exchanged among women in Karnataka.
I need to know how to cut jaggery in very small size plz explain coz while cutting it will become powder..