Sankranti Rituals

We need more articles like this one by Prof Dr Geetha
Viswanathan
(emphasis mine):

Makara Sankranti, also called the harvest festival or Pongal, falls
on January, 14 or 15, when the sun passes from one zodiac sign to
another. This festival marks the beginning of Sun’s journey to
northern hemisphere, called utharayana.

Homes are cleaned, white-washed, and red mud smeared along the
walls. In front of the house fresh cow dung is smeared and designer
rangoli designs made. A make-shift stove is built on the verandah
and a new mud pot decorated with turmeric leaf and rhizome used to
cook newly-harvested rice in the presence of sunshine. Sweet pongal
is prepared, offered to Sun God and distributed to all.

In the evening a mixture of roasted gingili seeds, dry coconut
copra, and jaggery is distributed to all friends and relatives along
with sugar candy.

On the third day cows are decorated after bath, their horns painted,
and body smeared with turmeric. A small heap of dry hay is burned.
Each cow is forced to cross the fire at least three times. Then
camphor is burnt and aarthi is shown to the cow, especially to the
udder and back. The cow is fed with sweet pongal and gingili
mixture.

All that is not meaningless tradition. There is hard-core science
behind it. White-washing the house with calcium carbonate
(collected from molluscan shells) helps to kill spiders and other
insect vectors in house. Fresh cow dung in presence of sunlight
produces methane which forms a thin film in front of our house and
prevents entry of bacterial pathogens and also kills microbes. Red
mud will close all pores in the house which are breeding place for
many vectors.

Cooking rice in presence of sunlight helps to get vitamin – D for
one full year. Gingily is a good antioxidant; dry kenel of coconut
is anti bacterial agent and anti viral agent.  Dry coconut has
saturated fatty acid which prevents infections. Dry coconut has
lauric acid, which is a very good antiviral agent oil in the nut
helps to rejuvenate the muscles and enhances hair growth and
premature aging of our skin.

During this season that signals the end of winter and beginning of
spring followed, is the optimum period for viral and bacterial
colony to breed. Mumps, measles causing adenoviruses breed fast
during this period. These viral infections can even cause damage to
chromosome 17 and create a chromosomal or genetic disorder which can
be passed on to next generation. Eating coconut gingili mixture with
anti viral agent helps to prevent the viral attack. Turmeric used in
pongal is also an antiviral agent.

Cowpox viruses belonging to poxvirus, foot and mouth disease virus
and anthrox leptospirosis are found to breed during this season,
which is their optimum period. These cause disease in cow and
buffalos, encephalitis infection  is transmitted through milking.
Cowpox milker’s node, Orthopox virus causes infections in cows,
buffalos, mouse, monkey, rabbit, camel at  temperatures between 25-
41  degree centigrade. Cowpox is absent in Europe because the
temperatures are lower than the optimum for the virus.

Crossing the fire by the cows reduces the chance of the infection;
camphor arathi will also prevent infection of theses virus because
camphor is an anti viral agent.

So it can be seen clearly that our ancestors had a good reason to
do what they did. It is time we realised that.

I’m just amazed at how our ancestors took a proactive approach to
health rather than our our reactionary approach, and that too, we
depend on artificial means like manufactured pills compared to their
simple clean natural ways.