Visakhapatnam: 'Bhogi mantalu' incomplete without sun-dried patties

Visakhapatnam: It is that time of the year where the old gets discarded as a symbol of bidding adieu to negativity only to usher in positivity.

'Bhogi mantalu' holds a larger significance in many Telugu households as it is the day where the logs, cow dung patties and other old stuff get into the fire.

In rural regions, the festival is celebrated in an elaborate manner as the three-day Sankranti begins with 'Bhogi mantalu'.

For many, the festival is incomplete without placing cow dung patties into the flames. There is a belief that the sun-dried patties act as an air purifier when burnt.

Though preparing them continues to be a common feature in rural areas, the process of making cow dung patties is rarely witnessed in the urban jungle. Space and time constraints are said to be a few reasons for their rare accessibility in the city.

Keeping the urban dwellers in view, some of the e-commerce sites offer cow dung patties to the customers.

However, much to the delight of the passers-by, this year, a van carrying the patties appeared on the roads of Visakhapatnam.

Given the demand for the patties during Sankranti that starts with Bhogi, Govardhanagiri Ghosala, an NGO, located at Gudilova, Anandarapuram mandal, has ventured into selling the patties by reaching out to neighbourhoods.

"Surprisingly, the stocks got exhausted within a few hours. Though a dozen of cow dung patties are available online for Rs 200 to Rs 400, consumers can access a string of over four dozen patties at our mobile selling point for just Rs 50," says K Sriramachandra Murthy, founder of the Ghosala.

The head of the NGO mentioned that they did not expect that the auspicious stuff would get sold off in a jiffy.

Though this is the first time the organisation is foraying into the mobile selling of the cow dung patties, for many urban dwellers, it did come as a pleasant surprise to access them at an affordable cost.