Mumbai: The Punjabi harvest festival of Baisakhi and the second round of Hindu new year celebrations will brighten the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. Poila Boisakh, Puthandu and Vishu will colour the landscape with gatherings and feasts.In Bandra, a group, Khalsa Aid, will hold a turban tying event at Carter Road, Bandra, to coincide with Baisakhi. Guru Singh Sabha, Dadar, will host special prayers and gatherings, said community member Manmohan Singh.. The Assamese community will celebrate Rongali Bihu at Sector 5, Kharghar, on Tuesday and at Rangsharda, Bandra, on April 19, said senior community member Jyotirmoy Das. Aparup Borpujari, former vice-president of Assam Association Mumbai, termed it a time of fun. “There are three Bihu celebrations in a year, of which Maghi Bihu in Jan involves feasting, while Rongali Bihu involves dancing and singing amid nature. Young boys and girls dance in the fields wearing fine costumes.” Bengali men and women have laid out elegant new dhoti kurta ensembles and fine saris in anticipation of Poila Boishakh on Wednesday. New books of account (haal khaata) are opened this day, homes are decorated with alpana (rangoli), and the table is laden with luchi, kosha mangsho and payesh. Prayers are offered to Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi. Durgabari Samiti will organise a programme on April 19 in honour of New Year 1433 and Rabindra Jayanti, said community member Mitali Poddar. Joy Chakraborty, member of Bengal Club, Shivaji Park, said, “Our 103-year-old institution will welcome Bengali New Year with special puja along with pushpanjali (offering of flowers) to Ma Kali in the morning, followed by aarti. Prasad will be distributed to all. The following weekend, a Bengali cultural programme is scheduled, along with traditional dinner.” Kallol Kali Mandir in Goregaon will be bedecked with flowers for day-long rituals beginning with Kali Puja followed by Satyanarayan Puja. A dance drama inspired by ‘Abhisar’, a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, will explore devotion and spiritual longing. “Poila Boishakh is when we come together to celebrate our traditions and shared heritage,” said community member Sapan Mukherjee. K A Viswanathan of Matunga said Tamil New Year Puthandu will be celebrated on Tuesday and Vishu the following day. A Malayali resident of Kalyan explained how his mother prepares the ‘vishukkani’, whose mainstay is an idol of Lord Krishna, surrounded by gold and silver, yellow ‘kanikonna’ flowers and other fresh flowers, fruit, including cucumber and jackfruit, and a mirror. “Each family member is led blindfolded to the arrangement—it is the first thing we see on the morning of the festival, symbolising an auspicious beginning. As we sit to eat on banana leaves, elders bless us.” In Matunga’s Asthika Samaj, people queue up for darshan of Lord Krishna and the ‘vishukkani’.
