Makar Sankranti

Makar(a) Sankrānti (Sanskrit: मकरसङ्क्रान्ति, romanized: Makarasaṅkrānti), (transl. Capricorn Festival) also referred to as Uttarāyana, Makara, or simply Sankrānti, is a Hindu observance and a mid-winter harvest festival in India and Nepal. It is typically celebrated on 14 January annually (15 January on a leap year), 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. 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. Makar Sankranti is a time of celebration and thanks giving, and is marked by a variety of rituals and tradition.

Date variations

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.

Significance

Every year Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the month of January. This festival is dedicated to the Hindu religious sun god Surya. This significance of Surya is traceable to the Vedic texts, particularly the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred hymn of Hinduism found in its scripture named the Rigveda. Makara Sankranti is also associated with the birth and coming of the final Avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu, Kalki.

Makara Sankranti is regarded as important for spiritual practices and accordingly, people take a holy dip in rivers, especially Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. The bathing is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. They also pray to the Sun and give thanks for their successes and prosperity. A shared cultural practices found amongst Hindus of various parts of India is making sticky, bound sweets particularly from sesame (til) and a sugar base such as jaggery (gud, gur, gul). This type of sweet is a symbolism for being together in peace and joyfulness, despite the uniqueness and differences between individuals. For most parts of India, this period is a part of early stages of the Rabi crop and agricultural cycle, where crops have been sown and the hard work in the fields is mostly over. The time thus signifies a period of socializing and families enjoying each other's company, taking care of the cattle, and celebrating around bonfires, in Gujarat the festival is celebrated by flying kites.

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.

Nomenclature and regional names

Makar or Makara Sankranti is celebrated in many parts of the Indian subcontinent with some regional variations. It is known by different names and celebrated with different customs in different Indian states and South Asian countries:

• Sankranti, Makara Sankranti, Makara Sankramanam, Pedda Panduga: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
• Pusna: West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya
• Suggi Habba, Makara Sankramana, Makara Sankranti: Karnataka
• Makar Sankranti, Uttarayana or Ghughuti: Uttarakhand
• Makar Sankranti or Makara Mela and Makara Chaula: Odisha
• Makar Sankranti or Sankaranti or Shankaranti: Kerala
• Makar Sankranti or Dahi Chura or Til Sankranti: Mithila, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi
• Makar Sankranti, Maghi Sankranti, Haldi Kumkum or Sankranti: Maharashtra, Jammu, Goa, Nepal, Sikkim
• Hangrai: Tripura
• Pongal or Uzhavar Thirunal: Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia
• Uttarayana: Gujarat
• Maghi: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh Punjab
• Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu: Assam
• Parshuram Kund Mela or Makara Sankranti: Arunachal Pradesh
• Shishur Saenkraat: Kashmir Valley
• Makar Sakraat or Khichdi Parv: Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar
• Poush Sangkranti: West Bengal, Bangladesh
• Tila Sakrait: Mithila
• Tirmoori: Pakistan

In most regions of India, Sankranti festivities last for two to four days of which each day is celebrated with distinct names and rituals.