Agijala Poornima is a full moon day as per lunar calender. The full moon decides the end of the month and on this auspicious day in Orissa the entire neighbourhood gathers to make a fire.
Every family heaps hay around an AGI( A tall bamboo) fixed in the soil. Everyone throws potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplants, mustard seeds, coconuts, rice and all kinds of pulses into it as an offering. Then the priest would offer a prayer to set JALA(Fire) to the heap.
The importance of this festival are believed to be many :
1. The direction of the fire decides how will be the crop in the next season e.g if the fire is in upward direction then the yield from the harvest will be in abundance.
2. The ashes from this fire is very auspicious and kept in the granary in between the storage of food grains. It is for a healthy year of the family.
3. A pinch of the ash is kept at the house to keep the evil spirits and bad energies away.
4. It's a blessing to spot a burnt vegetable and eat a piece of it.
But for me it was very simple :The last Bonfire with my cousins and friends in this winter.
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