Makar Sankranti is the best example of Unity in Diversity of India
Makar Sankranti is a Hindu festival that is celebrated on the 14th of January each year. The holy day marks the beginning of a new harvest season and is celebrated with fervor across the country. It also symbolizes the restoration of peace and harmony on earth and a beginning of new era after the end of a dark and evil power. Many mythological stories like the first meeting between the Sun God and his son Lord Shani or the end of Asuras by Lord Krishna also add to the auspiciousness of this festival.
There is a sankranti every month when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. The popular Indian festival “Makar Sankranti” is the first Indian festival falls in New Year. It is one of the major Indian harvest festival celebrated on 14th of January of every year. It’s an important festival celebrated almost everywhere in the country in myriad cultural forms and different names. Every region celebrate it in innumerable ways, according to the localization, culture and traditions.
This Harvest festival is celebrated with different names from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, and Assam to Gujarat with bonfire and sesame delicacies and the excitement to cut the crops. Here is how Makar Sankranti is being celebrated in different part of India.
Assam
In Assam, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as a two-day long festival called Magha Bihu or Bhogali Bihu, where people come together and perform some traditional rituals. This festival in Assam celebrates the end of harvesting season and people erect makeshift huts, light bonfires, play games like Tekeli Bhonga, cook delectable Assamese cuisine like Shunga Pitha, Til Pitha etc., and enjoy buffalo fighting.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
In Uttar Pradesh, the festival of Makar Sankranti is commonly called Khichdi Parv. A dish, made from rice and pulses, called khichdi, is prepared on this day and offered to the Sun God. People take a dip in the holy waters at Sangam in Prayag, Allahabad to wash their sins away.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it is celebrated as a four-day long festival, – Bhogi, Sankranti, Kanuma, and Mukkanuma are the names of the four festivals celebrated on the four days. People get together, share sweets, buy new household items, wear new clothes, decorate house with rangolis, free their cattle, fly kites, and enjoy ox fights and cock fights.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu too celebrates this Harvest festival as a four day festival – Bhogi, Thai Pongal, Mattu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal.
Bhogi: People destroy old clothes and materials, by setting them on fire;the belief says it is the end of old and the emergence of the new.
Thai Pongal: On this day people boils rice with fresh milk, jaggery, brown sugar, cashew nuts and raisins in new pots and allows it to boil over the vessel. Then thanks giving to the Sun (god).People visit each other and exchange greetings.The festival has derived its name from above mention tradition. In Tamil, the root pong or pongu means to “boil over” or “spill over”.
MaattuPongal: Farmers decorate theirbulls with paint, flowers and bells, and feed them sweet rice and sugar cane.
KaanumPongal: Thewordkaanum means “to view” on this day people visit their relatives, friends to thank them and to enjoy the festival.
Maharashtra:
In Maharashtra, people celebrate Makar Sankranti in its true and authentic sense. They share multi-colored tilguds (a sweet dish made from sesame seeds and jaggery), and til laddus. People greet each other with a phrase til-gul ghya, god god bola, which means accept the sweets and speak sweet words.
Rajasthan
Makar Sankranti is one of the most popular festivals in the state of Rajasthan. People in this state prepare special dishes like til-paati, ghevar, gajak, pheni, kheer, pakodi, puwa, and til-laddoo to share with their family and friends. Newly married brides and grooms receive gifts from their in-laws on this day. It is a ritual in the state for married women to gift makeup items, household items, and special dishes to other women. In the evening, people fly kites and compete in kite flying competition.
Punjab
In Punjab, Lohri is celebrated a day before Makar Sankranti when people harvest their crops and celebrate by singing, dancing, and lighting bonfires. On 14th of January, i.e., Makar Sankranti, the people of Punjab celebrate Maghi as the new harvest year. They eat sumptuous food and perform bhangra to welcome the New Year on Maghi.
Delhi and Haryana
In Delhi and Haryana, Makar Sankranti is celebrated with great enthusiasm by the married women. As most of the marriages take place in November, December, Makar Sankranti becomes the first festival of the newly married brides and grooms. Brides get ready and prepare special sweet dishes like churma, halwa, and kheer as a token of love for their in-laws. Married women also gift makeup-items and clothes to their in-laws on this day.
Kerala
In Kerala, Makar Sankranti is marked with the end of the 40-days long anushthaan performed by the devotees of Lord Ayappa. The end of this anushthaan is celebrated with pomp and glory as a big festival, especially in Sabarimala. Pilgrims from different parts of the state and neighbouring area visit the Sabarimala temple to offer their prayers to Makara Jyothi (a star who is assumed to be an incarnation of Lord Ayappa).
West Bengal
In West Bengal, the sacred region of Gangasagar holds a big mela or fest during the time of Makar Sankranti. Devotees from different parts of the country flock here to take a holy dip in River Ganges in Gangasagar.
Gujarat
In Gujarat, people celebrate the festival of Uttarayan on Makar Sankranti. It is a two-day festival, where 14th January marks the beginning. On this day, people fly kites that fill the entire state with colors. Kite flying contests are also held across the state and echo of “kai po che” can be heard everywhere.
Karnataka:
In Karnataka, people consider Makar Sankranti as a festival of goodwill and friendship. They exchange “yello bella”, a sweet made with sesame seeds, peanuts, gram, and jaggery, to sweeten their friendship. They also prepare rice and moong dal khichdi and serve it with curry made from freshly harvested sweet potato, sweet pumpkin, and field beans.
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