SANATAN DHARMA - A Scientific Religion.
Makar Sankranti (also known as Makara Sankranti or Maghi) is a festival day in the Hindu Calander, in reference to deity Aditya (sun).
Makar Sankranti (also known as Makara Sankranti or Maghi) is a festival day in the Hindu Calander, in reference to deity Aditya (sun).
It is observed each year in January. It marks the first day
of sun's transit into the Makar (Capricorn) marking the end of
the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
Makar Sankranti is one of the few ancient
Indian festivals that have been observed according to solar cycles.
while most
festivals are set by the lunar cycle of the Solaris Hindu Calander.
Being a festival Makar Sankranti (Sanskrit: मकर सङ्क्रान्ति) is a period set by the solar cycle of the Hindu lunar calendar.
It is
observed on a day which usually falls on 14 and date changes according to Panchang or Hindu Calander 15 January of Gregorian calendar, and
signifies the arrival of longer days.
Actually the Sun god goes
Uttarayan or Northward from Southward.
This Uttarayan Sun is known as
auspicious or very beneficial for the Universe.
In Hindu Sastra it is said that
even death in Daxniyan or Southward Sun is considered not good.
So left life
even death is considered good in Uttarayan or Northward Sun.
Northward Sun
brings long Sun or day.
So the days of cold and big nights goes away.
In
Southward Sun one can get big and cold nights.
Sun is the symbol of life so
based on Science, Astronomy this calculation was done by great Ancient Indian
Rishi, Muni or you can say scientists, that was the time when the world was
ignorant of these things and was not even fully civilized.
If we remember
Mahabharta, it’s one of the biggest characters ‘Bhisma Pitahma’ was on the bed
of arrows waiting for the ‘Uttarayana Sun’.
Thus one can understand the
significance of ‘Uttarayan’ Sun.
Makar Sankranti falls in the solar month of Makara by Hindu Calander or Panchang, and lunar
month of Magh.
It marks
the end of the month with winter solstice and is the darkest night of the
year, a month that is called Pasha in lunar system and Dhanu (Sagittarius) is
solar system of Hindu time keeping methodology.
The festival celebrates the
first month with consistently longer days.
That celebrates the solar cycle, it almost
always falls on the same Gregorian date every year (January 14) this year 15 January.
Except in rare
years when the date shifts by a day for that year, because of the complexity of
earth-sun relative movement.
The festival associated with Makar Sankranti
are known by various names such as Lohiri in Punjab and north
Indian Hindus and Sikhs.
Makara Sankranti (Pedda Pandaga) in Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh, Sankranti in central India, Magh Bihu by
Assam, and Pongal in Tamilnadu.
The festival is dedicated to the Hindu sun god, Surya.
The festival also marks the
beginning of a six months auspicious period for Hindus known as Uttarayan period.
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