Makar Sankranti
Why We Celebrate Makar Sankranti
This is a well-known fact that is the land of the festival. as we enter in the new year, we first see the calendar as to what festivals are there in the month of January. we instantly find that there are Hindu festivals like Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Pongal, hihu etc. besides the national festival of republic day and the birth anniversary of guru ravidas.
let us know about Makar Sankranti, which is one of the most important of the Hindu festivals. unlike the order Hindu festivals, the speciality of Makar Sankranthi is that it often falls on the same day every year, i.e January 14. of course, there are rare occasions when it falls one day earlier or later than its fixed day of 14 January. in the year 2018, it falls on January 15.
unity in diversity and diversity in unity is symbolic of India's identity. festivals of India also contribute to this characteristic of the Indian way of life. when the people in one region of Indian celebrate one festival, the same is celebrated in some other region with a different name but with almost the same zeal and spirit.
Makar Sankranti is related to the position of earth and sun. when the sun comes on the tropic of Capricorn (makar Rekha) which usually happens on 14 January and this is the day of the celebration of Makar Sankranthi and that is how we get the name Makar Sankranti. so, when the people celebration Makar Sankranthi in one part of the country, the same is a different name. the festival is known as Sankranthi in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka. in Tamilnadu, it is called Pongal. the people of Punjabi and Haryana celebrate it as Lohri. they call it Bihu in Assam. some food recipes are specially prepared on the occasion of Makar Sankranthi. among these recipes, the daal-chawal khichdi (a porridge made from grains of pulse and rice) is most prominent. the other eatables mainly used during this festival are gud (jaggery), ghee and til (sesame). the bathing at a holy place or in a holy river is considered to be very fruitful on the occasion of makarSankranthii.
Equally important is the giving of alms on this auspicious day. it is said that the sun god ( surya Devata) is very plesed with the giving of alms on this day. on this day married women (suhagan) exchange the articles of their suhaag. it is believed that this gives a long life to their husbands.
makar sankaranthi is a harvesting festival. kite-flying is the most important event of this festival. this has a special significance for the occasion to get a chance to fly kites. when the children fly kites, the sky appears to be a spectrum full of different colours all around. kite flying fairs are organised at some places where even foreigners participate.
Gud festival ❤️❤️
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