Makar Sankranti

A Prologue to Makar Sankranti

India is a land of festivals. Many festivals are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Makar Sankranti, which is celebrated on 14^th January every year, is also one of the famous festivals of India that is celebrated with great fervor all over the country. The cultural resonance of India unites with the celebrations, devotion, happiness and zest. People from Punjab celebrate it by the name of Lohri and Maghi, people of Gujarat thank God by a riot of kites in the vast blue. The South India celebrates the festival as Pongal. Precisely, every part of country is frolicking in the festivities at the time of Makar Sankranti.

The Astrological Aspect

Makar means Capricon and Sankranti means to go from one place to another place or to change direction. It also means one's meeting with the other. So, the time when the sun changes direction from one constellation (of the zodiac) to another we call it Sankranti. In other words transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn during the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere (Uttarayana) is known as Makar Sankranti. Hindus believe in the co-relation of cosmic events with an individual's life and values. The conventional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions, the positions of moon, but Sankranti is a solar phenomena. And so the date of this festival is constant and does not change while other festivals do depend on the positions of moon. The other importance of this day is due to the natural change in the length and warmth of days as winters are to end form then onwards.

The Religious Aspect

The religious aspect of this day is also important. It is said that surya (sun) visits shani (saturn). This day signifies the importance of the special relationship of father and son. The son should carry forward his father's dream. Mots of the auspicious things are done at this time as it is called the day of Gods (uttranyan). Also on this day Lord Vishnu killed the demons and buried their heads under Mandar Parvat which symbolizes end of negativities and herald of a new era. Another reason behind the importance of this day is told in our great epic, Mahabharata, which says that Bhishma Pitamah, who has the boon from his father to keep himself alive as long as he wanted and so he kept himself waiting to finally leave this mortal world on this day.

The Cultural Aspect

Different states of India call the festival with different names. But the quintessence of all remain the same.

Name of the State	Term for Makar Sankranti	Celebrations
Uttar Pardesh, Bihar	Khichri	Taking a dip in the holy rivers
Bengal	Makar Sankranti	A very big Mela is held at Ganga Sagar
Tamil Nadu	Pongal	Surging of rice boiled in a pot of milk
Andhra Pradesh	Pedda Panduga	Celebrated for Four days
Maharashtra	Makar Sankranti	Exchanging of multi-colored tilguds
Gujarat	Makar Sankranti	Kite Flying Day
Punjab	Maghi	Dancing and Feasting
Tribes of Orissa	Sankrant	Beginning of New Year

People wake up early in the morning before sunrise to take bath and worship the sun God on sunrise to pray for living a dynamic, inspired and righteous life. They do tarpan for the great ancestors. Have special sessions of meditations. Ladies make laddoos of til and gur (Jaggery). Give donations to the needy and have Khichri in lunch. Parents visit their son's house and give gifts to their son and daughter in law.

Plan your Makar Sankranti in advance and soak yourself in the festivities on 14^th January.

Swati Saxena

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Lohri

A festival marked with extreme frolic, a festival associated with solar year, a festival to worship fire, a bonfire festival of North India – it is about Lohri one of the most celebrated festivals of India. Celebrated on 13th January every year, Lohri is the coldest day of year. People of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Delhi celebrate the festival with great fervor. The festival heralds the end of chilly winters in North India. Almost every Indian can be seen enjoying on the day when Earth starts moving towards the Sun marking the auspicious period of Uttarayan (North) from Dakshinayana (south). If you are a newly wed couple then your first Lohri is of great significance. Even a new born baby makes the Lohri of a family much prominent as it signifies fertility.

The celebrations of Lohri include praying to the bonfire for abundance and prosperity. People make a small image of the Lohri goddess with gobar (cattle dung), adorn it, kindle a fire beneath it and chant its praises. People could be seen gathering around the bonfire and throwing til, groundnuts, puffed rice and popcorns into the flames of the bonfire, singing and dancing till the fire dies out. They take dying embers of the fire to their homes. Ladies jovially perform Gidda, Kikli. While men could be seen doing Bhangra, jhoomer, luddi, julli and dankara. These traditional songs and dances are the legacy of Punjab's culture.

There are many folklores associated with Origin of Lohri. Among them the most common is Dulla Bhatti who is the leading character of most Lohri songs. While others maintain that the name of the festival originated from Loi, the wife of Saint Kabir. Most of the people of rural Punjab pronounce Lohri as Lohi.

Lohri is not only a cultural gala but a social observance. Being related to harvest season the festival is of immense importance in an agricultural country like India. Everybody observes the festival imparting love and affection to all. The social barriers freeze when people visit homes, distribute sweets, meet and greet each other. The past grievances are forgotten and the gap is thus bridged.

Celebrate this vibrant festival of fertility with full enthusiasm and vitality that signifies peace and harmony.

Swati Saxena

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