Makara Sankranthi celebrations across India, date, timings
Makara Sankranthi celebrated across India with different rituals and it falls on January 14th of the calendar year. It is a festival of the harvesting season, farmers are busy harvesting different crops in different parts of India. After hard work for a long time, farmers have the time to celebrate. Culturally, traditionally it is an important festival which is also the first festival of the calendar year.
Sun starts its transition from south to northward on this day. Sun transits from zodiac sign Cancer to Capricorn, that is Makara.
It is a festival of the winter season which is celebrated with great zeal. Makara Sankranthi is dedicated to Sun God, as life on earth exists due to the Sun. This festival has different names in different parts of the country. It marks the beginning of the spring season.
Kumbh Mela and Ardha Kumbh Mela also begins during Makara Sankranthi, continues for the whole month.
Sharing sweets made of til, jaggery, sugar cane, rice is the common ritual followed in many places across India. Flying kites, dancing, singing also part of the celebrations with other enjoying activities followed in many places on the festival day. Sharing and socializing is the main concept of the festival.
Makara Sankranthi Date and timings in 2021
Makara Sankranthi on Thursday, January 14, 2021
Makara Sankranthi auspicious timing 08.30 A.M. to 05.46 P.M.
Makara Sankranthi Punya Kala 08.30 A.M. to 10.15 A.M.
Significance of Makara Sankranthi
Sun transits from the tropic of Cancer to the tropic of Capricorn, at the same time earth starts its northward part of the rotation. It is the end of the winter solstice, in which the day is shorter and the night is longer. After Makara Sankranthi, the days are longer than nights. Makara Sankranthi day is equinox day, day and night are almost equal.
After Makara Sankranthi, the days become longer and warmer when it is compared to days before the transition of the Sun.
Traditional significance of Makara Sankranthi
It is believed that Sun God is starting his journey towards Himalaya for Darshan of Shiva. Sun God changes his direction from South to North. This auspicious timing is called Utharayana Punya Kala. People take a holy dip in rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Krishna, Godavari, Kaveri, to get relief from past karmas. The time period of transition of Sun from zodiac sign Cancer to Capricorn, that is Makara is very auspicious.
Makara Sankranthi as per lunar calendar
Makara Sankranthi is celebrated on the first day of Makara masa, a souramana festival. This may fall on January 14th or 15th of the solar calendar.
Makara Sankranthi Celebrations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as Pongal
Makara Sankranthi is celebrated for three days in Andhra Pradesh. The first day is celebrated as Bhogi Panduga. On that day people clean their houses and burn all the unwanted old items. It is believed that this brings wealth to the family.
On the second day, that is on January 14th they celebrate as Pedda Panduga is celebrated in a big way by decorating the houses with flower garlands, beautiful, colourful rangolis are drawn in front of the main entrance and pooja room. On that day family members wear new clothes for special pooja and cook special festival food like Pongal and offer it to the god. Relatives are invited for the lunch on that day.
On the third day, some people celebrate as Kanuma Panduga and cook meat on that day.
Cock fighting and cattle race
In Andhra Pradesh, in olden days cock fighting was a ritual on the second day of Sankranthi celebrations, but now it is banned in Andhra Pradesh. In some places, cattle races are held on that day. Cattle are part of farmers life and as a mark of respect, they are decorated with bright coloured clothes and colours and fed with special food.
Makara Sankranthi or Sankramana in Karnataka
Makara Sankranthi is also called Makara Sankramana in Karnataka. This festival is also known as suggi festival. The festival starts with cleaning the house and buying new clothes for the celebration. On the day of the festival family members take an oil bath and wear new clothes for the pooja. They decorate the main entrance with mango leaves and flower garlands. Beautiful rangolis are drawn in front of the main entrance and the pooja room. Special festival food is prepared with sweets kayi holige, payasa, chithranna, ellunde and ellu bella. This food is offered to God as naivedya, then food is served to family members.
In villages, as the new harvests like sugarcane, groundnut, paddy, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and other food grains, people use this in preparing special food for the festival day.
Sankranthi ellu bella beeruvudu
Sankranthi ellu bella is a mixture of fried til, peanut, jaggery, copra and fried grams. Jaggery and copra are evenly cut and mixed with fried ellu or til and fried peanut. Young girls share this with friends and relatives in the evening time. Ellu bella mixture is given with a piece of sugar cane, thambula, banana fruit with sugar candy moulds or sakkare achu.
Kichchu haayisuvudu
It is a tradition in North Karnataka called kichchu haayisuvudu. The cattle and other animals are a part of village life, as a respect cows are decorated with flowers and their horns are painted and decorated with bells and then in the evening, they are raced on the fire with their caretaker.
Sankranthi celebrations in Kerala
Makaravilakku in Kerala
Sabarimala Sri Ayyappa temple in Kerala celebrates Makara Sankranthi as Makaravilakku, Makara Jyothi is visible in the hills of Sabarimala in the evening of Makara Sankranthi day. Sabarimala Sri Ayyappa temple is situated in dense forests of Western Ghats and this festival is celebrated with its rituals and devotees throng temple at that time to witness Makaravilakku.
Makara Sankranthi celebrations in Tamil Nadu as Pongal
Makara Sankranthi is celebrated as Pongal in Tamil Nadu. This festival is celebrated for four days. The first day is called Bogi. On that day people burn unwanted things, it is a belief that it will bring wealth to the family.
The second day is called Thai Pongal which is a very auspicious day for Tamilians. It is called Thai Pongal since it is the beginning of the Thai month of the Tamil calendar. The literal meaning of Pongal is 'to boil' and it is a custom there to prepare the special festival food called Pongal.
Girls draw beautiful Muggulu in front of the entrance and decorate it with flowers. Gobbemmalu made up of cow dung is kept in the middle of the Muggulu. It is the ritual followed in the morning. Then all family members take oil bath and wear new clothes and decorate their house with flowers. Pongal is a sweet dish prepared under the sun by boiling the harvested rice in milk and jaggery and it is garnished with dry fruits. This is offered to Sun as thanksgiving and then served for the family members.
The third day is celebrated as Mattu Pongal. Farmers decorate cattle and as a mark of respect, they parade them in the village.
The fourth day is celebrated as Kanum Pongal and on that day offerings are given to ancestors. Farmers visit their relatives' houses and enjoy singing folk songs and dancing.
Magh Bihu festival in Assam
Magh Bihu is the harvesting festival in Assam celebrated for a week in January. Festival special food is prepared and evening bonfire and other rituals followed here. Young people make small huts called Meji by using the materials available naturally like bamboo, leaves, and thatch. On that day they gather together and eat special festival food and burn the hut the next day.
Traditional games pot breaking and buffalo fighting are specially arranged during celebrations. Rice cakes and sweet prepared with coconut is the main festival food here. People sing Bihu songs and gather to perform Bihu dance around the bonfire.
Makara Sankranthi celebrations in Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, people prefer to wear black coloured clothes and prepare special sweets like halwa, sesame laddoo, puran poli on festival day. They offer it to God. Women exchange sweets and sesame laddoo to near and dear ones as they invite them for haldi-kumkum. Most of the rituals are followed in Goa also the same as in Maharashtra.
Makara Sankranthi in Gujarat as uttarayan
Makara Sankranthi is celebrated in Gujarat as uttarayan for two days. It is called by that name as the sun starts northward movement on that day. Special sweets made of sesame, groundnut chikki are prepared. Kite flying is the major event held on the festival day. People of all age groups participate in kite flying with great zeal. The sky is full of kites of all colours and shapes. Competitions are held and people enjoy cutting other kites. The second day is celebrated as Vaasi Uttarayan.
Makara Sankranthi celebration in Punjab, Lohri festival
This festival is called Lohri in Punjab and specially celebrated by Sikhs which marks the end of the winter season. This festival is also called by the name Maghi in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. It is the harvesting season of the rabi crops in Punjab.
On 13th of January, the bonfire is prepared and a pooja parikrama is performed with offerings. Lohri marks the end of the winter and bonfire signifies the warmth needed in winter for both mankind and plants in the winter season. Harvested crops are rice, wheat, peanut, mustard, sugarcane, and corn. Special food is prepared by using these harvested grains like peanut chikki, popcorns, sarson ka saag, makki ki roti on the day of Lohri. A special sweet rice called til rice is also prepared using the ingredients rice, jaggery, sesame seeds.
Lohri dances are the fun activities held during Lohri festival celebrations. Both men and women together perform Lohri dance. Bhangra, dankara, julli jhoomer, luddi are the dance forms followed by men and giddha and kikli are the dance forms followed by women. Men and women wear colourful traditional dresses and they enjoy the festival by dancing around the bonfire in the evening.
Makara Sankranthi celebrations in Uttar Pradesh
The festival is called Kicheri in Uttar Pradesh. Magh Mela starts on the day of Makara Sankranthi in Allahabad. People take a holy dip in the Ganga river and celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm. People gather in Allahabad, Varanasi for the holy dip.
Fasting is observed on the pooja day. They give charity to the needy on that day. Special kichadi is prepared on that day to offer God. They prepare kheer by cooking rice in milk with sugar or jaggery. They give this kichadi and kheer to the needy and then serve it to the family members.
Patang udana or kite flying is followed in Uttar Pradesh as in many other places of India. In the evening all the family members gather on their terraces and kite flying is the fun activity they follow with great zeal. They enjoy cutting other kites and the sky is decorated with diamond-shaped kites on the day.
Makara Sankranthi celebration in West Bengal
Makara Sankranthi is also known as Poush Sankranthi in West Bengal. It is celebrated as a harvest festival on January 14. The freshly harvested rice and date palm jaggery in the form of a liquid called jhola gur or solid form patali gur are used in preparing festival food. Sweet made with rice flour, coconut, milk, and khejurer gur which is called pithas is offered to God.
What is the meaning of Makara Sankranthi?
On January 14th Sun changes its movement towards the north. This northward movement is from the zodiac sign Cancer to Capricorn, where Capricorn is Makara. Sankranthi means the view of Sun movement from one zodiac to another.
Why til or sesame and jaggery is the main thing used in Sankranthi celebrations?
As this festival in the winter season, our body needs warmth. Til especially keeps our body warm and it provides the necessary oil for our body which is needed in the winter season. It avoids skin from drying. Sugar cane is harvested in the winter season and jaggery or gud is readied and used in sweet preparation.
why kite flying is part of Makara Sankranthi celebrations?
As the sun moves towards the north and the winter is coming to end, people have the opportunity to expose to the Sun rays and keeps us warmer and makes us healthier, which may be the reason for the kite flying activity. It also makes people s0cialize with others and enjoy the festival with joy.
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