Makar Sankranti
India is the land of festivals. Makar Sankranti is one of the important festivals of Hindu religion that they celebrate with great joy and happiness. The festival is celebrated every year on 14 or 15 January depending upon the solar cycle. They celebrate by taking an early morning holy dip in the river and offering prayers to the sun because according to Hindu mythology sun is one of the many gods.
Meaning of Makar Sankranti
The word Makar Sankranti derives from two words Makar and Sankranti. Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti means transition, which makes Makar Sankranti means the transition of the sun in the Capricorn (Zodiac sign). In addition, this occasion is a very sacred and auspicious occasion according to Hinduism and they celebrate it as a festival.
Importance of Makar Sankranti
The shift of the sun into Capricorn is of divine importance and we Indian’s believe that taking a dip in the holy river Ganga washes away all your sins and makes your soul pure and blessed. In addition, it signifies the increase of spiritual light and reduction of materialized darkness. From the scientific point of view, from Makar Sankranti, the days become longer and the nights become shorter.
Furthermore, it is also a belief that taking a dip in the holy ‘Triveni Sangam’ (The point where Three holy Rivers met namely Ganga, Yamuna, and the Brahmaputra) at Prayagraj on Makar Sankranti during the time of ‘Kumbh Mela’ has great importance in the religion. At this time if you take a holy dip in the river then all your sins and obstacle in life will wash away with the flow of the river.
Celebrating Makar Sankranti
It’s a festival of togetherness and delicacies. The main cuisine of this festival is a dish made of Til and jaggery that add sparks to the festival. Kite flying is also a great part of the festival during the day the whole family enjoys kite flying and at that time the sky is filled with a lot of colorful and different design kites.
The different part of the country celebrates this festival differently and call it with different names. Also, the custom of each and every region is different and each region celebrates it with their respective customs. But the ultimate aim of the festival remains the same throughout the country that is spreading prosperity, togetherness, and joy.
Charity on Makar Sankranti
Charity is also an important part of the festival. Donating wheat, rice, and sweets to the needy and poor is part of the festival. It’s a belief, that one who donates with an open heart then God will bring prosperity and happiness in his life and remove every difficulty from the person’s life. That is the reason it is called Khichdi in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Interesting Makar Sankranti Facts:
- Makar Sankranti is THE ONLY festival in India that follows the solar calendar. This is the reason why it falls on the exact same date year after year as per the Georgian calendar. For the records, it is celebrated on the 14thof January each year.
- Overages, the date of Makar Sankranti has changed. A 1000 years ago, this festival was celebrated on 31stof December.
- This change in date occurs because of an orientation change in the rotational axis of Earth.
- As per Hindu Solar Calendar, the festival is celebrated on 1stMagh (for those who are not aware of Magh, it is the name of a month as per the Hindu calendar).
- Makar Sankranti is a Festival of Harvest and is celebrated on the day after the winter solstice. There is no separate celebration for the day of the winter solstice in the Hindu religion, which is why the Hindus combine or conflate the winter solstice with the festival, believing that the sun end Dakshinayana (southward journey) at the Tropic of Cancer and starts Uttarayaana (northward journey) towards the Tropic of Cancer.
- Scientifically, however, the day for the winter solstice in Northern Hemisphere falls between 21stand 22ndThat is, on 22nd December the sun starts its northward journey with days becoming longer than nights.
- Every 70 years, the date for winter solstice is one day earlier. This happens because of the change in the orientation of the rotational axis of Earth. Going by this calculation, if Makar Sankranti actually marked the day after the winter solstice, it would have been back in 300 BCE.
- Since Makar Sankranti is actually a Festival of Harvest, which means that it is not really restricted to one state of India. It is celebrated across India with the most notable celebrations taking place in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Delhi and Haryana, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
- Makar Sankranti is also very popular in Nepal. As per Bikram Samwat (Nepali calendar), it is celebrated on 1stMagh and marks the end of Poush – the ill-omened month. All religious activities in Nepal are completely forbidden in the month of Poush and the festival marks the sun’s northward journey from its southernmost position.
- Khichdi, Maghi, Uttarayan, Lohri, Poush Parbon, Makara Sankramana, Pongal (in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka) Maghe Sankranti (in Nepal), Songkran (in Thailand), Pi Ma Lao (in Laos), Thingyan (in Mayanmar) are some of the other popular names of this festival in different places.
- Makar Sankranti in India is usually associated with kite-flying. This tradition has long been followed not because it has any specific religious significance but because it allows people to bask in the early morning sun when sun rays are gentle.
- Hindus believe that winter brings sickness and infections and basking in the early morning sun on the day of Makar Sankranti will help them to get rid of a variety of harmful bacteria that live on their bodies. Kite-flying is only a mode of making this sun-basking a little more interesting and fun.
- Makar Sankranti is associated with pilgrimage. In Uttar Pradesh, Kumbh Mela starts with Makar Sankranti. In West Bengal it is Gangasagar or Sagardweep mela. Pilgrims take a dip in holy river water to wash off all their sins.
- Makar Sankranti denotes the transition of the sun from the zodiac Sagittarius to Capricorn. Makar is the Sanskrit word for Capricorn while Sankranti is the Sanskrit word for transition.
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