Trials and Trimphs

While we are celebrating the vibrant and multifaceted festival called” Makarsankranti”, let’s dive in deeper to unfold the different aspects of this unique festival that is unanimously celebrated across different parts of our country. It’s not just celebrated in India but also in few other countries as Nepal, Thailand and Sri Lanka. One festival, different names and different faces but share the same sentiment!!!

Sankranti, a festival that marks new beginnings, a festival that makes you pause and reflect for a moment on how unique, thoughtful and in big picture, how similar our traditions and cultural practices are, though we belong to different geographical parts and communities. A festival that speaks the language of love and gratitude is not just an astronomical or celestial event but has much more to it.

What do we know about Sankranti? What makes it so special? Do you know the reasons and story behind celebrating this festival?

Mythologically, there are many stories that provide a religious insight for this celebration. It marks the day when Devi Sankranti killed a devil “ Sankarasura”. The next day of Sankranti is called “ Karidin or Kin kranti” a day when kinkarasura was slayed. There is also a belief that, on this day, Surya (Sun God) visits his son,  Shani every year. King bhagirath liberated his ancestors from a curse by bringing river Ganga to earth on this day. It is also believed that Bhishma Pitamaha had the boon of ‘ Iccha mrutyu” and he chose Sankranti as the day to start his heavenly abode. Lord Vishnu buried the asuras under the Mandara parwat on this day. According to Drik panchang, 16 hours period after Sankrant is supposed to be very auspicious.

Sankranti is unique in a way as being an astronomical event, it is celebrated across the nation as a festival. It marks the transition of Sun into the zodiac sign” Capricorn/ Makar rashi” , denoting the beginning of the northward journey of Sun.

This shift has much more significance than just being a “celestial” event. This shift signifies the end of harsh and dark winters and arrival of new energy, longer and warmer days. The celebration of this event truly symbolises marriage of science and tradition. 

India being traditionally an agricultural country and a nation that worships its work, Sankranti is all about “paying gratitude”!! It aligns with the beginning of the harvest season and speaks about the abundance felt by the joyful farmers enjoying the fruits of their handwork.. whatever the harvest be!! We grow in an era where we find food and grains on the shelves of supermarkets and we seldom feel that this by itself can bring ecstatic joy to anyone, to simply feel thankful to God !!! But think of decades and centuries ago when the farming communities across the country put in all they had for all they could… to get the harvest.. they were eternally thankful to the world around them that made it happen, their farms, their cattles, families and communities.

They “thanked” their gods for supporting them, for materialising their hard work of long days working in the farms.  There are customs and practises associated with Sankranti that reckon the hardwork of the farm animals and during this celebration, even cattles are offered gratitude offering them prayers. What a wonderful human gesture to learn from. Today, we, as a society, have forgotten the significance of being thankful and showing our gratitude to nature, to God, to family or people in our lives and work, who have contributed to our lives positively, to our success and our wellbeing .

What makes sankranti so unique is how it is unanimously or discretely celebrated in different parts of india. Incredible traditions.

Uttar Pradesh: It is celebrated as a month of donation on the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers.

Telangana/ Andhra Pradesh: It is a three day festival:

Day 1 : Bhogi, discarding old belongings and celebrating new beginnings around a bonfire.

Day 2 : Sankranti , the main day: Families prepare traditional dishes like Aricellu and Pongal and fly kites.

Day 3 : Kanuma: Dedicated to worshipping and honouring cattles in agriculture.

expressing gratitude to nature. family gatherings

Tamilnadu: Pongal: A four day harvest festival where families celebrate making ” pongal : a delectable sweet prepared from the freshly harvested rice, jaggery and milk apart from other similar rituals such as decorating homes, making rangolis (floor decorations /paintings using rice flou, colours/ flowers) thank and worship the cattles.

Orissa: Makar Sankranti , also called ” Makar-mela” is celebrated preparing a special dish called ” Makar -Chaula” which is a mixture of freshly harvested (uncooked) rice, banana, coconut, jaggery and sesame seeds along with the temple fairs / melas to pay respect to the celestial event, folk dances and songs. Explorers witness huge number of devotees visiting the famous Konark temple. They say that one must visit Hatakeshwar at Atri in Khordha or attend the special rituals at Jagannath Puri, Dhabaleswar at Cuttack, Makara Muni Temple in Balasore to understand the significance of ” Makar Sankranti” rituals and celebrations in Odisha.

Punjab: Lohri: A night before sankrant, families in the north enthusiastically gather around bonfires, sing traditional songs and dance to the beat of irresistible folk music with ” Bhangra”.

Assam: Magbihu: Celebrated with traditional sweets and celebrations around the bonfire as well.

Gujrat: Uttarayan: where Sankranti is all about kites. In Hindu mythology, the Sun is considered a symbol of divine energy. Flying kites is a way to worship the Sun and acknowledge its importance in our lives. The colourful kites adorn the canvas of sunny skies, beautifying the Sun’s journey towards the northern hemisphere, marking the beginning of longer days and the end of winter.

Apart from these, flying kites also represents the desire for “freedom” and the sheer joy of soaring high. Kites are a face of human hope, joy, positivity, reflecting people’s aspirations for a brighter future. Kite-flying also allows them to connect with nature, appreciating the elemental strength of the forces of nature in form of the wind, Sun, and Sky.

Maharashtra: Sankranti is mainly celebrated as a festival reminding everyone to remain humble, warm and sweet just like the sessame- jaggery sweets ” tilgul” and reciting to your self and each other the tag line” tilgul ghya aani god god bola”, meaning may this sweet make you speak sweetly / or become a sweet person”.

At its core, Sankranti is about the profound importance of ” nurturing gratitude” , importance of appreciation and acknowledgement of those around you in your ecosystem of life.

It is about “letting go” of the “old” and the “past” and embracing new beginnings, to pause in this fast paced life and remember to come together to celebrate and share the joy of whatever your harvest is… ” “success”, ” achievements” or even “obstacles and stumbles”, “stagnancy or failures” , you share what you have with your tribe, community and that will soon turn around to become ” harvest of joy!”

It teaches us to leave behind the dark, the negativity around us, to leave behind the internal conflicts and external grudges , mundane old habits and just like the Sun marches into a new journey – step into a new phase. Every tradition reminds us the importance of harmony and togetherness. Its a reminder to start afresh, be thankful and spread warmth and joy of love and appreciation.