Makar Sankranti at Jaydev Kenduli
Makar Sankranti is one of the few ancient Indian festivals that has been observed according to solar cycles, marks the first day of sun's transit into the Makara (Capricorn) from Sagittarius (January 14/15), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
Thousands of Hindu devotees from all over Bengal gather at Jaydev Kenduli, take a holy dip in the Ajay river with thanksgiving to the sun for their successes and prosperity. The bathing is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. The devotees also perform rituals and prayer (puja and prasada offerings) at the river bank in remembrance of their departed family members and they also seek blessings for their departed souls!
Kenduli Mela
On the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, one of biggest and 800 years old religious fair of West Bengal is coordinated to remember poet Jayadeva. Several thousand bauls, a community of wandering minstrels who sing devotional songs, assemble for the fair and as such it is also referred to as Baul Mela (Fair). The bauls stay in 160 temporary hermitages at Jaydev Kenduli for around a month. However, in recent years, the greatest baul fair in the state is gradually losing its character, as the bauls have been outnumbered by kirtanias, who perform kirtan (devotional singing) in the mela to gain popularity. Around 2,000 kirtanias come to attend the mela annually.
Jaydev Kenduli is a village at the bank of the Ajay river in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is believed by many to be the birthplace of poet Jayadeva Goswami (born c. 1170 AD), who had composed Gita Govinda in Sanskrit. Maharani Brajakishori of Bardhaman had set up the Radhabinod temple at Jaydev Kenduli in 1683, where the house of the poet Jayadeva, was believed locally to have stood. Subsequently, many ashramas (hermitages) were set up and Jaydev Kenduli developed as a religious centre.
Images of Bengal, India
Makar Sankranti at Jaydev Kenduli
Makar Sankranti is one of the few ancient Indian festivals that has been observed according to solar cycles, marks the first day of sun's transit into the Makara (Capricorn) from Sagittarius (January 14/15), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
Thousands of Hindu devotees from all over Bengal gather at Jaydev Kenduli, take a holy dip in the Ajay river with thanksgiving to the sun for their successes and prosperity. The bathing is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. The devotees also perform rituals and prayer (puja and prasada offerings) at the river bank in remembrance of their departed family members and they also seek blessings for their departed souls!
Kenduli Mela
On the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, one of biggest and 800 years old religious fair of West Bengal is coordinated to remember poet Jayadeva. Several thousand bauls, a community of wandering minstrels who sing devotional songs, assemble for the fair and as such it is also referred to as Baul Mela (Fair). The bauls stay in 160 temporary hermitages at Jaydev Kenduli for around a month. However, in recent years, the greatest baul fair in the state is gradually losing its character, as the bauls have been outnumbered by kirtanias, who perform kirtan (devotional singing) in the mela to gain popularity. Around 2,000 kirtanias come to attend the mela annually.
Jaydev Kenduli is a village at the bank of the Ajay river in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is believed by many to be the birthplace of poet Jayadeva Goswami (born c. 1170 AD), who had composed Gita Govinda in Sanskrit. Maharani Brajakishori of Bardhaman had set up the Radhabinod temple at Jaydev Kenduli in 1683, where the house of the poet Jayadeva, was believed locally to have stood. Subsequently, many ashramas (hermitages) were set up and Jaydev Kenduli developed as a religious centre.
Images of Bengal, India