Makar(a) Sankrānti (; ) also referred to as Uttarāyana, Makara, or simply Sankrānti, is a Hindu observance and a mid-winter harvest festival in India and Nepal. Hindus worship Surya, the Sun god, in Makara Sankranti. It is typically celebrated on 14 January annually (15 January in a leap year)., Quote: "Makara Sankranti (14 January); Makara Sankranti is a festival held across India, under a variety of names, to honor the god of the sun, Surya." This occasion marks the transition of the sun from the zodiac of Sagittarius (dhanu) to Capricorn (makara). As this transition coincides with the sun's movement from south to north, the festival is dedicated to the solar deity, Surya, and is observed to mark a new beginning. Across India, the occasion is celebrated with numerous multi-day festivals.
The festivities associated with Makar Sankranti are known by various names including Sankranthi or Peddha Panduga in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Khichari in Bhojpuri region, Magh Bihu in Assam, Maghi Saaji in Himachal Pradesh, Makaravilakku in Kerala, Makara sankranti in Karnataka, Maghi Sangrand in Punjab, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Maghi Sangrand or Uttarain (Uttarayana) in Jammu, Sakrat in Haryana, Sakraat in Rajasthan, Sukarat in central India, Uttarayana in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, Ghughuti in Uttarakhand, Dahi Chura in Bihar, Makar Sankranti in Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal (also called Poush Sankranti or Mokor Sonkranti), Uttar Pradesh (also called Khichidi Sankranti), Uttarakhand (also called Uttarayani) or as simply, Maghe Sankranti (Nepal), Songkran (Thailand), Thingyan (Myanmar), Mohan Songkran (Cambodia), Til Sakraat in Mithila, and Shishur Senkrath (Kashmir). On Makar Sankranti, Surya (Hindu solar deity) is worshipped along with Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi throughout India.
Makar Sankranti is observed with social festivities such as colourful decorations, rural children going house to house, singing and asking for treats in some areas, melas (fairs), dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts. The Magha Mela is mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Many observers go to sacred rivers or lakes and bathe in a ceremony of thanks to the Sun. Every twelve years, the Hindus observe Makar Sankranti with Kumbha Mela – one of the world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 60 to 100 million people attending the event.Kumbha Mela: The Largest Gathering on Earth , Alan Taylor, The Atlantic (14 January 2013)Biggest Gathering On Earth' Begins In India; Kumbha Mela May Draw 100 Million , Mark Memmott, NPR, Washington DC (14 January 2013) At this event, they say a prayer to the Sun and bathe at the Prayagaraj confluence of the River Ganga and River Yamuna, a tradition attributed to Adi Shankaracharya.Roshan Dalal (2011), The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths, Penguin, , see Kumbh Mela entry Makar Sankranti is a time of celebration and thanks giving, and is marked by a variety of rituals and tradition.
Etymology The term Makara Sankranti is derived from Sanskrit. Makara refers to the zodiac sign Capricorn, while sankranti denotes "transmigration" or "transition," specifically the movement of the sun from one zodiac sign (rashi) to another. Thus, Makara Sankranti literally means "the transition of the Sun into Capricorn." Within Hindu astronomical calendars, sankranti marks the beginning of a new solar cycle.NEOG, DR PRADIP. BIHU FESTIVALS: All-inclusive elucidations. Notion Press, 2021.
Other names
Uttarayana The festival is also colloquially called Uttarayana, from uttara ("north") and ayana ("movement" or "journey"), meaning "northward movement." It refers to the northward shift of the Sun following the winter solstice. However, this usage should not be confused with Uttarayana in its astronomical sense, which denotes the six-month northward movement of the Sun rather than the specific festival day.
Pongal In Tamil Nadu, the festival is known as Pongal, from the Tamil verb pongu, meaning "to boil over" or "overflow." The name refers to the traditional dish of newly harvested rice boiled with milk and jaggery, that is ritually prepared and consumed on the day. It is also referred to as Tamizhar thirunal ("the festival of Tamil people").
Magh Bihu In Assam, it is celebrated as Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu. The term Magh refers to the corresponding month in the Hindu calendar, while bhogali derives from the Sanskrit bhoga ("feasting" or "enjoyment"). The term Bihu is traced to the Sanskrit Bisuvan or Bisuva, with mentions in the Atharva Veda and the Vishnu Purana. It is believed to be the sanskritisation of the Tai-Ahom term Poi-hu (from Poi meaning worship, and Hu meaning cow), which evolved phonetically into Bihu.GOSWAMI, SUWANEE, and ERIC SORENG. "BIHU FESTIVAL: DANCE OF THE GODDESSES."
Lohri In parts of northern India, especially Punjab, the festival preceding Makara Sankranti is known as Lohri. The etymology of "Lohri" is debated. Some scholars associate it with loh (iron) or lohri as a term linked to winter fires or ironsmiths.Karanth, Dileep. "The Indian Oboe Reexamined."Herin, Bruno. "Elements of Domari dialectology." Mediterranean Language Review 23 (2016): 33-73. It is colloquially also referred to as the "younger sister of Holi".Fenn, Lekha, and Apurva Joshi. "A Descriptive Study on Cultural Impact On Celebrating Festivals Of India." Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education 12.13 (2021): 1192-1197. According to another tradition, the term is derived from Loi, the name of Sant Kabir's wife.
Khichdi In regions such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the festival is colloquially called Khichdi, named after the traditional dish made of rice and lentils.Rituals, Morning, et al. "The Sankranti Blueprint: Eating with the Season to Fix Your Digestion Digital Desk." There is a ritualistic practice of offering Khichdi to Guru Gorakhnath on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.Chaturvedi, Shashank. "Khichdi Mela in Gorakhnath Math: Symbols, Ideas and Motivations." Society and Culture in South Asia 3.2 (2017): 135-156.
Astronomical basis
Makar Sankranti is set by the solar cycle and corresponds to the exact time astronomical event of the Sun entering Capricorn and is observed on a day that usually falls on 14 January of the Gregorian calendar, but 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 long and the time difference between the two consecutive instances of Makar Sankranti is almost the same as the year. There are 365 days in a year. Thus, every four years the calendar is offset by one day which is adjusted by adding leap day (29 February). Hence, Makar Sankranti falls on 15 January every leap year. 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. For example, the equinox of September does not fall on the same date each year nor does the winter solstice. Any event related to one revolution of the Earth around the Sun will have this date shift within a four-year cycle. Similar changes can be seen in the exact time of solstices and equinoxes. See the table, how the time of the equinox and a solstice increases and decreases in a cycle of four years.
The time difference between two consecutive winter solstices is about 5 hours 49 minutes 59 seconds, with respect to winter solstice time, and the time difference between two consecutive Mankar Sankranti is about 6 hours and 10 minutes. Towards the end of the 21st century, there will be more occurrences of Makar Sankranti on 15 January in a four-year cycle. And Makar Sankranti will be on 16 January for the first in the year 2102 as 2100 will not be a leap year.
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, i.e. this is a sidereal measure. Uttarayana begins when the Sun's ecliptic longitude becomes 270° measured from the Vernal equinox, i.e. this is a tropical measure. While both concern a measure of 270° their starting points are different. 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 (i.e. all the equinoxes and solstices) shifts by about 1° in 72 years. As a result, the December solstice (Uttarayana) is continuously but very slowly moving away from Makar Sankranti. Conversely, 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.
Legends According to Hindu Puranic legends, Makar Sankranti is named after the goddess Sankranti, who defeated the demon Sankarasura. The demon's death marked the occasion of Makara Sankranti. Another demon named Kinkarasura was slain by the goddess on the following day, which is celebrated as "Kinkrant". According to another legend, Surya, the solar deity, visited his son Shani on Makar Sankranti. Though the father and son were described as having a strained relationship, Shani welcomed Surya to his home by offering black sesame seeds (til).
Sesame (til), one of the most important ritual foods of Makar Sankranti, is also connected with several sacred legends. One account states that when Vishnu became enraged at Hiranyakashipu for persecuting his devotee Prahlada, sweat from Vishnu's body fell on the earth and turned into sesame seeds. According to another legend, Vishnu's sweat transformed into sesame during the Samudra Manthana (churning of the ocean). Because sesame emerged from Vishnu's body, it came to be regarded as sacred and ritually pure.
Regional variations and customs
Makara Sankranti is an important pan-Indian solar festival, known by different names though observed on the same date, sometimes for multiple dates around the Makar Sankranti. It is known as Pedda Panduga'/'Makara Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh, Makara Sankranti in Karnataka, Telangana, and Maharashtra, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Magh Bihu in Assam, Magha Mela in parts of central and north India, as Makar Sankranti in the west, Makara Sankranti or Shankaranti in Kerala, and by other names.
Many melas or fairs are held on Makar Sankranti the most famous being the Kumbha Mela, held every 12 years at one of four holy locations, namely Haridwar, Prayag (Prayagraj), Ujjain and Nashik, the Magha Mela (or mini-Kumbh Mela held annually at Prayag) and the Gangasagar Mela (held at the head of the Ganges River, where it flows into the Bay of Bengal). Makar Mela in Odisha. Tusu Mela also called as Tusu Porab is celebrated in many parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Poush Mela, held traditionally on the seventh day of Poush, at Shantiniketan, in West Bengal, is unrelated to this festival. Mela Maghi is held in memory of the forty Sikh martyrs (Chalis Mukte) who gave their lives to protect Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, every year at Muktsar Sahib in Punjab. Before this tradition, the festival was observed and mentioned by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of Sikhism.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the festival of Sankranti is celebrated over four days. Entrances of homes are decorated with geometric patterns made from colored rice flour, known as Muggu. The four days are observed as Bhogi, Pedda Panduga (the main festival day), Kanuma, and Mukkanuma, respectively.Subrahmanyam, Y. Subhashini. "The ritual complex of Sankranti." Anthropos H. 1./2 (1967): 236-238.
Assam