Festivals in India- Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti is eminent throughout India as it is a thanks giving festival that the nature does to help human beings.

It can also be denoted as harvest festival. The winter recedes thereby paving way for summer and is the appropriate time that the farmers bring their harvest home.

The coastal regions dedicate the harvest festival to Lord Indra and in North India taking a ritual bath is highly important.

On this day Khichiri is eaten and also given away as charity. People distribute lentils and rice to the needy and poor.

Maharashtra people celebrate this festival with great fervor preparing lots of sweets made from sesame seed, jaggery and laddoos. They prepare sweets using sesame seed as this is the main crop of that season. The kite flying is done on this day in Gujarat.

Lohri, Makar Sankranti or Pongal all the festivals convey identical message such as the spirit of oneness and the brotherhood bond. Makar meant Capricorn and the transition refers to sankranti.

The transition called sankranti takes place every month when the sun travels from one zodiac sign to the next. As there are 12 zodiac signs, it as well represents that there are twelve sankranti’s.

However, each sankranti has a relative importance, but the Mesh sankranti and the Makar sankranti are considered to be of more importance. The transition of Sun to Sagittarius to Capricorn in the northern hemisphere during the winter is known as Makar Sankranti.

Makar Sankranti period is regarded to be an auspicious time as this was the time that the Mahabharata Veteran Bhishma selected for death. Bhishma was the victim of Arjuna’s arrows.

The belief is that people dying during that period do not follow the system of rebirth. There are many legends in doing this day such as the puranas state that the sun visits shani his son’s house on this day.

as well-known the father and son never get along well, despite the fact they both consider meeting each other. Another legend states that this was the day that Lord Vishnu brought a halt to the Asuras terrorism by burying their heads.

It also has the pride of being a great day for the savior Maharaj Bhagirath who did tapasya and brought River Ganga to the earth. This was the day that Maharaj Bhagirath used the Ganges water and did tarpan for his unfortunate ancestors and freed them from curses.

Makar Sankranti day is also seen as a wonderful day to start new shops and small businesses. New clothes are worn as this is celebrated by the Maharashtrians as a new year.