Indian Festivals Part 2: Makar Sakranti and its Significance

Significance of Indian festival Makar Sakranti

1. Name of the fesival

Makar Sakranti/ Pongal/ Bihu/ Uttarayan

2. Celebration date

14th or 15th January

or last day of Indian 'Poush' month. 

3. Celebration mode

• Bhagavan Surya (Sun God) is worshiped on this day in Hindu religion.

• On this day people take a holy dip in rivers, especially in holy river Ganga to clear past sins.
  

• In many parts of India Makar Sankranti is celebrated by flying kites.  

4. Celebrated by

Farmers and common people (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist) of India, Nepal, Cambodia, Mayanmar and Thailand

5. Significance of the festival

• ‘Makara’ an animal as per our holy texts, half-terrestrial and half-aquatic, and it is often depicted as a crocodile. 

‘Makara’ or Capricorn, the tenth of the twelve lunar months. 

Makara the vehicle of Lord Varuna, the God of Sky, Water.
 

Crocodile represents the materialistic world.  It is considered to be a guardian of gateways.

'Sankranti' means a) last day of a month b) movements (passage) of the sun from one zodiac sign to another c) passage d) to cross into or change.

 

‘Makar Sankranti’ gives an opportunity to get away from the clutches of the crocodile or the materialistic world. 

• It is celebrated as harvest festival as farmers celebrate with the crop, they have grown by their hardwork. 
  

• This festival is called Uttarayan because from this day onwards Sun starts moving towards northan hemisphere. From this day onwards winter starts decreasing.
  

• Uttarayan is linked to the day, when Bhishma Pitamaha, decided to die. He had special boon of 'iccha mrityu', that he can decide when he wishes to die. 
  

6. Same festival many name

Magh Bihu in Assam

Maghi in Punjab

Maghi Saaji in Himachal Pradesh

Maghi Sangrand or Uttarain (Uttarayana) in Jammu

Sakrat in Haryana

Sakraat in Rajasthan

Sukarat in central India

Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka

Uttarayana in Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh

Ghughuti in Uttarakhand

Dahi Chura in Bihar

Makar Sankranti in Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa

Khichidi Sankranti in Uttar Pradesh

Uttarayani in Uttarakhand

Poush Sankranti or Mokor Sonkranti in West Bengal

Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 

Shishur Senkrath in Kashmir

Maghe Sankranti in Nepal

Songkran in Thailand

Thingyan in Myanmar

Mohan Songkran in Cambodia

• In Tamilnadu Makra Sankranti/ Pongal is celebrated in four days. 

7. Conclusion

Makar Sankranti is celebrated in various parts of the world mainly to celebrate the crop, farmers have grown by their hardwork. 

 8. Reference

Marked in the text, hyperlinked. 

 

Read other posts

All posts