Bhogi

Bhogi is the first day of the four-day Pongal festival. According to the Gregorian calendar it is normally celebrated on 13 January but sometimes it is celebrated on 14 January. In the Tamil calendar , this corresponds to the last day of the month of Maargazhi. It is a festival celebrated widely in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

On Bhogi, people discard old and derelict things and concentrate on new things causing change or transformation. At dawn, people light a bonfire with logs of wood, other solid-fuels and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful. The disposal of derelict things is where all old habits, vices, attachment to relations and material things are sacrificed in the sacrificial fire of the knowledge of Rudra, known as the “Rudra Gita Jnana Yajna”. It represents realisation, transformation and purification of the soul by imbibing and inculcating various divine virtues. Pogi is celebrated the day preceding Thai Pongal and Makar Sankranti. It is also being said that Buddha died in bogi pongal at the time when Buddhism was practicing in all over India.