Sankranthi Celebrated All Over India

-Pradakshina

Makara Sankranthi is the festival celebrated in Bharat and in many other parts of the world, as per the Hindu panchang, Makara Sankranthi marks the transition of Sun into Makara Rashi, or Capricorn as per the solar calendar. Although the Sun transitions into one rashi or the other every month, Makara Sankranthi is an important event as it also marks the northward journey of the Sun- the beginning of the Uttarayana punyakala. Usually it is a fixed date, in the last few years the sankranthi is falling on 15th of January on the Gregorian calendar. On Makar Sankranthi, the Sun God Surya is worshipped, the significance of Surya is traceable to the Vedic texts, particularly the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred hymn of Hinduism found in the holy scripture of Rigveda, Sri Maha Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi are worshipped throughout India during the festival.

Makara Sankranthi is known in the same name in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana and West Bengal; it is known as Maghi Saaji in Himachal Pradesh, Maghi Sankrand in Punjab, Uttarayana in Jammu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Shishur Senkrath in Kashmir, Ghughuti in Uttarakhand, also Khichdi Sankranti in Uttar Pradesh and Dahi Chura in Bihar, Til Sankraat in Mithila, Magh Bihu in Assam and Pongal in Tamilnadu. As Bharat has great cultural impact all over Asia, especially south and south-east Asia, Sankranthi is celebrated in all these countries. It is known as Maghe Sankranti in Nepal, Songkran in Thailand, Thingyan in Myanmar and Mohan Songkran in Cambodia.

Makar Sankranti is observed with social festivities such as colorful decorations, children visiting relatives’ houses, singing and celebrating in melas (fairs), dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts. The Magha Mela is mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. People go to sacred rivers or lakes and bathe in a ceremony of gratitude to the Sun God. Every twelve years, the Hindus observe Makar Sankranti with Kumbh Mela – among the world’s largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 100 million people attending the event. Devotees pray to the Sun and bathe at the Triveni Sangam in Prayaga Raj, a confluence of the sacred rivers of Ganga and Yamuna, with Sarasathi flowing as antar-vahini, the tradition of kumbh mela is attributed to Adi Shankaracharya. Makar Sankranti is a time of celebration and thanks giving, and is marked by a variety of rituals and traditions.

Many shared cultural practices found amongst Hindus of various parts of India is making sweets with sesame (til) and jaggery (gud, gur, gul). For most parts of India, this period is a part of early stages of the Rabi crop and agricultural cycle, where crops have been sown and the hard work in the fields is mostly over. The time thus signifies a period of socializing and families enjoying each other’s company, taking care of the cattle, and celebrating around bonfires, in Gujarat the festival is celebrated by flying kites.

A night lit up on Makar Sankranti Uttarayana Festival with Kites and Lights.
The festival Sankranti is celebrated for four days in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu women decorate the entrance of their homes by geometric patterns drawn using colored rice flour, called Muggu.
• Day 1 – Bhogi
• Day 2 – Sankranti
• Day 3 – Kanuma
• Day 4 – Mukkanuma

Makar Sankranti is set by the solar cycle and corresponds to the exact astronomical event of the Sun entering Capricorn, a day that usually falls on 14 January of the Gregorian calendar, and on 15 January in leap years. Makar Sankranti’s date and time is analogous to Sidereal time of Zodiac sign of Capricorn (when sun enters). The year is 365.24 days, and to offset the extra .24 of a day in a year, every four years the calendar is offset by one day which is adjusted by adding leap day (29 February). Sidereal time of sign of Capricorn also shifts by a day due to leap year. Similarly, the time of equinoxes also shifts by a day in each four year window.

Makar Sankranti and Uttar Ayana
Makar Sankranti is celebrated when the Sun’s ecliptic longitude becomes 270° measured from a fixed starting point which is in opposition to Spica, this is a sidereal measure. Uttarayana begins when the Sun’s ecliptic longitude becomes 270° measured from the Vernal equinox, this is a tropical measure. Hence, Makar Sankranti and Uttarayana occur on different days. On the Gregorian calendar, Makar Sankranti occurs on 14 or 15 January; Uttarayana starts on 21 December. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the tropical zodiac shifts by about 1° in 72 years. As a result, the December solstice (Uttarayana) is continuously but very slowly moving away from Makar Sankranti. The December solstice (Uttarayana) and Makar Sankranti must have coincided at some time in the distant past. Such a coincidence last happened 1700 years back, in 291 CE.