A CULTURAL MAP DRAWN WITH RICE

INDIA observes Sankranti as a mid-winter harvest festival, symbolising new beginnings.

- NANDITHA KRISHNA Historian, environmentalist and writer based in Chennai

It marks the transition of the Sun into makara rashi or Capricorn, and the beginning of Uttarayanam, when the Sun shines more on the northern hemisphere. It's a prayer of thanks to our star.

Rice was probably domesticated first in the Yangtze basin in China around 7,000 BCE. In the subcontinent, it's said to have been domesticated along the Ganga by 6000 BCE. By 3500 BCE, it spread to Southeast Asia.

Today, the grain is a staple for 65 percent of India's population. Its production, processing and trading is a major employer across the country. There's a wondrous variety of rice cultivars, too. For example, in the Kuttanad region of Kerala, it's uniquely cultivated below the sea level. It's also a global staple with a bigger market than wheat, and hence is important for food security everywhere.

The cultivation and sanctity of rice is as old as Indian culture. Sita in the Rigveda means furrow. In the Ramayan, the childless Janaka finds a baby in the furrow and names her Sita. Ahalya, created by Brahma, means 'unploughed'. Rabindranath Tagore suggested that Rama's release of Ahalya from a stone probably refers to the reclamation of uncultivated land.

The plough was so sacred that kings made pacts by swearing on the plough, according to Kautilya. The Atharvaveda describes rice as a healing balm, "the sons of heaven who never die".