Makar Sankranti
As we all know that our country is the land of festivals. The various festivals makes it different from the other countries. Makar Sankranti is also one of those festivals which is celebrated by the several state of our country around mid of the January month. This festival begins from the 14th of January on every year according to the Hindu solar calendar. It is also referred as the holy phase of transition. According to the Hindu religion there are total 12 sankranthis but the occasion is celebrated only on the day of makarsankranti.
The transmigration of the sun from one Zodiac to the another one according to Indian astrology is referred as the Sankranti itself. Theoccasion of Makar Sankranti holds the special importance itself as the day and the nights of this day is measured in an equal duration on this day by the Solar calendar as well.
From this day it is considered as the upcoming days will become longer and warmer as well. As it is believed that the significance of this day were signified by the Aryans those who started to celebrate this day as an auspicious and very special day for the festivities as well.
It is the time when the sun starts to move from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere . This is why the people of Hindu religion believe this period as an auspicious and hence it is called as the Uttarayan or Winter solstice as well.
In the Hindu religion there is also the importance of this day is signified as auspicious. In Mahabharata there the Bhishma Pitamah were wounded so much in the war of Mahabharata but still they were lingered on and waited for the sun till the Uttarayan set in, so that they can embrace the death and also attain the heaven in this auspicious times In the Hindu religion it is believed that death on this day, brings the salvation to the deceased as well. Makar Sankranti is also referred as the day of happiness and the prosperity.
In the Hindu religion it is been said that there was a deity who killed a demon which were known as sankarasur. Hence, it is called as Makar Sankranti. It is also referred as the darkest night of the year which happens in this day. It gives us the signal of coming the longer days again. The people from various part of our country makes various sweet dishes. On this special day people visit to the lakes and the rivers sacred to them and take a bath while thanking to the God sun.
In our country there are millions of the people take bath in the sacred rivers before the sunrise. At the places such as Haridwar, Varanasi,Allahabad and so on. Just to read the religious , spiritual and the astrological advantages of this festival. It is believe that if one who takes a deep in a sacred river during this occasion can get a long and healthy life. It is also believed that if one takes a deep in a sacred river in this day then they can get ride of their sins from the past. This occasion is an auspicious festival. Therefore, the people of our country donate the items to the poor and underprivileged as well. Some of them donate some food, blankets, clothes and so on.
When the Makar Sankranti is celebrated ?
Mostly it is celebrated on the date of 14th of January. Makar Sankranti can also come before 14th of January or after the 14th of January. It is based on the Solar calendar or the Indian astrology as well. Hence the people closely follow the Gregorian Calendar. On this day the sun moves into the Makar that is Capricorn constellation itself or the zodiac .
Which people celebrate this occasion of MAKAR SANKRANTI ?
As we all know that this is one of the major festival of India. All the people of our country celebrate this occasion with great zest and enthusiasm. It is believed that the day of Makar Sankranti is very auspicious . Hence, we should spend our quality time with our loved ones as well.
As it comes in the end of the period of harvesting so it gives the reason to the farmers to celebrate the gains of their farming and spread the happiness with the people around themselves ;after all after doing a lot of works in a field they get the time to feel relax and enjoy with their family, so it becomes a very special occasion for themselves.
It is celebrated in all the various states of our country. Such as Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and so on. People enjoy it the most.
Why the occasion of Makar Sankranti is celebrated or what is the reason behind it ?
Capricorn which is known as ‘Makara’ when the sun move into the ‘ Makar Rashi ‘ that is zodiac of Capricorn is known as Makar Sankranti as well.
- The celebration of this festival is the tribute itself to the God Surya or sun to say them thanks for the grace of their energy that has made our life as well as our existence possible on this earth.
- It was believed that in the ancient era, when the sun was shifted towards the northern hemisphere then it was resulted in the longer days as well. Therefore it is also referred as the celebration of the change of the seasons. Which is also considered as a sign of hope and the positivity towards the life.
Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra
On the day of Makar Sankranti the people of Maharashtra state celebrate it over 3 days.
They clean their houses, wake of early in the morning, take bath, wear new clothes, women make a big rangoli in front of the main door of their house and also decorate their house by the beautiful flowers and the leaves of the mango tree. They also make such sweet dishes on this special occasion. They invite their loved ones and friends to celebrate this occasion with each other.
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The First Day Of Makar Sankranti Is Known As (Bhogi) :
On this day the people of Maharashtra pray to the god surya or son for their well beings and the prosperity. After that they distribute the very famous desert of this day that is the laddoos that is made by the sesame and the jaggery as well. And also greet to each other as “Til Gul Ghya, God God Bola ”
This is the very famous phrase of Maharashtrian people. It can be translated in the English as ‘take sweet, talk sweet and be sweet ‘. We can learn from this phrase that although there will be a lot of differences between the people yet the festival is a good as well as an appropriate time to forgive our loved ones and forget the quarrels to spread the love and happiness as well.
After doing all this kind of formalities they start to playing the famous game of flying kites. As it is believed that flying kites on this day gives us the energy and also boost our immunity to fight with several diseases as well.
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The second day of Makar Sankranti is a very special day for the newly wed women.
This is the very famous ritual of the Maharashtra state for the newly married women that they have to exchange the Haldi- Kumkum that is turmeric powder and the vermilion by applying it on the other woman’s forehead and also have to exchange the gifts as well. Women enjoy this ritual a lot. They play the game of taking names of their husband’s which is called as ‘ukhana’ and also such various types of games takes place there as they play fugadi and many more.Just to make this occasion more enjoyable and memorable as well.
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The Third day of Makara Sankranti is known as Kinkrant.
In the Hindu religion, It is believed that on this day the Devi defeated the demon Kinkarasur. Hence, it is called as Kinkrant. People celebrate this day by spending a quality time with their loved once and also shares gifts to each other and spread happiness around them .
The founder of the Art Of Living Gurudev Sri SriRavi Shankar Ji says ,
” Sesame seed is black on the outside and white on the inside. The massage it gives to us is , ‘ Maintain purity inside ‘. If we scrub the sesame seed, it becomes white outside also. We are like a sesame seed with respect to this universe. If you see, what is your significance in this universe, what is life? Next to nothing, like a sesame seed a mere speak! We are minuscule. We are tiny and sweet ; delightful like sesame with jaggery. So, stay small and sweet and you will truly become big. “
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Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
Pooran poli that is prepared by the flat bread stuffed with jaggery and gram flour and serve with pure desi ghee, til- gul laddoos which is made by sesame and jaggery as well ;are the special sweet food items of which is very delicious and mouth watering in nature are prepared on this special occasion by the people of Maharashtra.
Makar Sankranti in Karnataka
In Karnataka Makar Sankranti is popularly known as Suggi Habba . The people of Karnataka celebrate this festival with great zest and enthusiasm. They make their houses as dust free and very clean, decorate their houses with beautiful flowers and leaves of the mango tree. Women make a big and very beautiful rangoli in front of their main door of the House on this day people wake up early in the morning, take bath and wear the new clothes and start the day by greeting with each other.
- By exchanging the ‘ellu- Bella ‘ that is laddoos made from sesame and jaggery they wish to each other in the same way as the Maharashtrian people do. Like , ‘ellu-bellatindhuollemathadu ‘ which means ‘ eat sweet , talk sweet and be sweet with each other.
- The famous ritual of the Karnataka is that the newly wed woman has to give banana to other wed women . They have to follow this ritual for the 5 years. Each year they have to increase the number of bananas in multiple of 5.
Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
Ellu- Bella that is made by the sesame and jaggery as well , payasa that is sweet pudding, sweet Pongal lemon rice and the vadas and many more . This kinds of delicacies are prepared by the people of Karnataka on this special occasion of Suggi Habba that is Makar Sankranti.
Makar Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
In Andhra Pradesh Makar Sankranti is popularly known as PeddaPanduga and in Telangana it is known as Bhogi . The occasion of Makar Sankranti is celebrated over four days in both the states .
People clean their houses , decorates it with the various beautiful flowers, wake up early in the morning, take bath and wear the new clothes and begins this day by greeting to their near and dear ones. Women make a big and very big rangoli design by using the chalk or the flour as well and decorate it with the various beautiful flowers.
Once upon a time therethe sports of cockfights and the bullfights were organised by the people but now a days as the government of our country has banned this types of games in our country ; hence , the game is no longer played in this state .
- 1stDay : The first day of PeddaPanduga is known as Bhogi Panduga. It is believed that, on this day if one burn the old and unnecessary articles in the bonfire which they light with the wood and the furniture as well then they lead the peaceful and prosperous life. The main purpose behind this ritual is to start afresh and embrace the change of one’s life as well .
- 2ndDay :The second day of PeddaPanduga is the main day of the festival. People prepare the feast for the guests and their family members and celebrate it by distributing the feast with each other.
- 3rd Day : The third day of PeddaPanduga is known as kanumaPanduga . On this day specially the village people, worship the cow , decorate and feed them the delicacies what they prepared specially for this occasion.
- 4th Day : The last day of PeddaPanduga is known as ‘Mukkanuma’. Thermos paid tribute and say thanks to the nature for providing the very precious natural elements such as mother , fire , air and the rain as well to enable the harvest as well.
People also play the game of flying kites with together.
There is a very famous ritual takes place in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that makes it different from the other states. It is a unique feature of Sankranti in both States. That is Haridasus which is known as the devotees of lord Vishnu. They visit home to home of village by singing the devotional songs of the lord Vishnu
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Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
The sweet food items that made by the rice flour that is covering with dal and jaggery paste stuffs, rice kheer that is pudding, appaloo that is a sweet dish that made of jaggery and the rice flour as well and ChakkaraPongal that is sweet Pongal, a very tasty , delicious and mouth watering deserts are prepared on the special occasion of PeddaPanduga by the people of Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana as well.
Makar Sankranti in Rajasthan
The Makar Sankranti in the Rajasthan is known as Jakraat . The people of Rajasthan celebrate occasion with great zest and the enthusiasm.
People clean their houses , decorate it with flowers , wake up early in the morning , take bath wear the new clothes , women make a beautiful rangoli in front of the main door of their house and start the day by wishing to each other.
Newly wed woman give some household things or the sweet food items to the other wed women.
Girls who are newly wed are invited by their parents for celebrating their first Makar Sankranti after the marriage and they also give her the feast which is popularly known as sankrant Bhoj .
There is also the game of kite flying is been played by the people of Rajasthan.Some communities people organise such competitions for the kite wars , where people have to cut the kite strings of the other individual’s after bringing them down whose kite will be still flying in the sky that individual will be announced as the winner of this game.
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Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
Til laddoos that prepared by the sesame and the jaggery, gajak that is prepared by the sesame seed and the peanuts and the jaggery as well , dal pakodi which is a fried moong dal snacks , gajarkahalwa that is the carrot pudding , are the testy and mouth watering food items are prepared on this special occasion by the people of Rajasthan.
Makar Sankranti in Assam
Makar Sankranti is known as the Bhogali or Bihu or magh Bihu as well. As we know that Assam is a land of peace and the sovereignty. If we saw at once the High heels that drenched in the greenery to the majestic the rainforests . It seems that the mother nature has blessed the people here with all her benevolence.
As we all know that along with the other seven sisters , States of Arunachal , Manipur ,Nagaland ,Mizoram , and Tripura , the Assam forms the seven sisters of the north east India as well.
Bihu is an important festival of Assam that the people of Assam celebrate it with the great zest and the excitement.
Bihu is categorised in a set of three various festivals such as , Rangoli or Bohag Bihu , Kongali or Kati Bihu and the last one is Bhogali or Magh Bihu as well.
These three festivals one of the most important and auspicious festival is maghardomahior Magh Bihu . Which is observed in the month of January. The people also follows the magh month as per the Bengali panjika as well.
This festival begins in the end of the harvesting season which marks the shift in the sun’s solstice.
Apart from the Sankranti celebration in rest of the various States across the India the festival of bhogali Bihu is dedicated to the fire God Agni.
Just because the greeneries are full here, therefore in the celebration of these occasion a lot of feastings takes place. This day of bhogali is also referred as Uruka.
On this day basically in the village people go to the farm and make a make shift cottage which is known as bhelaghar with hey and the thatch which is mostly found in the harvested farms as well.
Most important ritual of these festival is lighting up a Meji which is known as the bonfire of the night. People spend their entire night around these meji by dancing on the tunes of the folk songs or by beating the drums as well.
- Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
People make the delicacies from rice , vegitables and the meat on this special occasion.
Makar Sankranti in West Bengal
Makar Sankranti in West Bengal is known as Paush Sankranti. It is the winter harvest festival of west Bengal.
It is said that long ago there was a terrible female. Everyone from people to the animals where suffering. This was believe that to have happened due to the absence of the sun as god Surya had gone on a hunting trip. Seeing the flight of the people goddess Lakshmi went in search of the lord sun. Transform herself into a beautiful maiden and ask him to join her on the earth. As the sun written so did the harvest and crops grow in the abundance. Hence the devotees believes that goddess Lakshmi still brings back lord son to the Earth for the harvest season every year. They worship and pray to goddess Lakshmi and perform the special pooja and offer the sweetfood items like pithas to her.
On this day people wake up early in the morning, take bath some of them take a dip in the holly river of ganga (on this special occasion of paush Sankranti , there is a famous grand ganga sagarmela is organised every year in the West Bengal) , decorate their houses by beautiful flowers , wear new clothes , women make rangoli in front of their entrances and start their Day by greeting to each other .
People worship the goddess Lakshmi which is also known as the Bahar Lakshmi Puja and pray for their healthy and prosperous life.
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Which special delicacies are prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranti?
Special prepare the delicacy pithas on this occasion which is made from the rice that floor stuffed with commonly coconut and jaggery mix , pathishapta , Gokulpitha , and the chitolpithe , bhapapithe such types of the delicacies are prepared by the people of west bengal.