Friday, December 21, 2007

Festival : Dong Ji

Dong Ji means the Arrival of Winter, it is the equivalent to "Winter Solstice".
It usually falls on 22nd or 23rd Demcember. It was a very important festival in the time gone by.
On this day a special dumpling make of glutinous rice is made for the occasion. These dumplings are make in the shape of little animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits etc, usually at the request of the children of the house.
This festival give the signal to those who are not at home to start planning their trip to go back home of the reunion at the Spring Festival.
This day of shortest daylight and longest night, people believe that the food consumed is at its highest values, and it is also the coldest day of the year.This year - 2007 in reality had the coldest day of 11 degree cent. yesterday in ten years in Kolkata .

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