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Subject: Makar Sankranti Happy Pongal
Makar Sankranti
Makar Sankranti also known as Makara Sankranti marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path, which is the first change in the zodiac after the winter solstice and is the first day of the month of Magha. The festival is celebrated in various parts of the Indian subcontinent to observe the day which marks the shift of the sun into ever-lengthening days. The festival is a seasonal observance as well as a religious celebration.
Makara Sankranthi is a solar event making it one of the few Hindu festivals which fall on the same date in local calendars every year: 14 January, with some exceptions when the festival is celebrated on 15 January.
Date and significance
Makar Sankranti is observed at the beginning of the Capricorn period under the sidereal zodiac, either 14 or 15 January, and signifies the arrival of warmer days. The festival is also dedicated to the sun god and marks the six months auspicious period for Hindus known as Uttaarayan. The importance of Uttaarayan is exhibited in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where Bhishma Pitamah waited for the sun to be in Uttaarayan for him to die willingly.
Makar Sankranti is believed to be a time for peace and prosperity. The day is regarded as important for spiritual practices and accordingly people take a holy dip in rivers, especially Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. The bathing is believed to wash away sins.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice occurs between 21 and 22 December. Day light begins to increase around this time when the Sun begins its northward journey which marks the six month northward journey of the sun known as (Sanskrit) Uttarayaana.
Makar Sankranti is the first solar festival which takes place after winter solstice which signifies the return of longer days. Therefore, the festival symbolically marks the winter solstice when the sun ends its zodiacal southward journey (Sanskrit: Dakshinayana) at the Tropic of Capricorn, in the Indian month of Pausha and starts moving northward (Uttarayaan) towards the Tropic of Cancer, in the Indian and Nepalese Hindu month of Magha on this day in mid-January.
In Hinduism, Uttarayaana is the six month period which begins from Makar Sankranti.
In India it is known by different regional names.
Makar Sankranti:
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Odisha, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Jammu
Maghi: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The day before, people of Punjab celebrate Lohri.
Thai Pongal, Uzhavar Thirunal: Tamil Nadu
Uttarayan: Gujarat
Bhogali Bihu: Assam
Shishur Saenkraat: Kashmir Valley
Khichdi: Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar
Makara Sankramana: Karnataka
In other countries too the day is celebrated but under different names and in different ways.
Bangladesh: Shakrain/ Poush Sangkranti
Nepal: Maghe Sankranti or Maghi- /Khichdi Sankranti
Thailand: สงกรานต์ Songkran
Laos: Pi Ma Lao
Myanmar: Thingyan
Cambodia: Moha Sangkran
Sri Lanka: Pongal, Uzhavar Thirunal
Tamil Nadu
It is a four-day festival in Tamil Nadu:
Day 1: Bhogi Pandigai (போகி பண்டிகை)
Day 2: Thai Pongal (தை பொங்கல்)
Day 3: Maattu Pongal (மாட்டுப் பொங்கல்)
Day 4: Kaanum Pongal (காணும் பொங்கல்)
The festival is celebrated four days from the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day of the Tamil month Thai.
Bhogi
The first day of festival is Bhogi (போகி). It is celebrated by throwing away and destroying old clothes and materials, by setting them on fire, marking the end of the old and the emergence of the new. In villages there will be a simple ceremony of "Kappu Kattu" (kappu means secure) will be done. The 'neem' leaves are kept along the walls and roof of the houses. This is to eliminate evil forces.
Thai Pongal
The second day of festival is Thai Pongal or simply Pongal. It is the main day of the festival, falling on the first day of the Tamil month Thai which starts with the solar cycle when sun starts moving through the summer solstice. It is celebrated by boiling rice with fresh milk and jaggery in new pots, which are later topped with brown sugar, cashew nuts and raisins early in the morning and allowing it to boil over the vessel. This tradition gives Pongal its name. The moment the rice boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout "பொங்கலோ பொங்கல் (Ponggalo Ponggal)!" and blow the sangu (a conch), a custom practised to announce it was going to be a year blessed with good tidings. Then new boiled rice is offered to the Sun god during sunrise, as a prayer which symbolises thanks to the sun for providing prosperity. It is later served to the people in the house for the ceremony. People prepare savouries and sweets such as vadai, murukku, payasam and visit each other and exchange greetings.
Maattu Pongal
The third day of festival is Maattu Pongal (மாட்டுப் பொங்கல்). It is for offering thanks to cattle, as they help farmers in agriculture. On this day the cattle are decorated with paint, flowers and bells. They are allowed to roam free and fed sweet rice and sugar cane. Some people decorate the horns with gold or other metallic covers. In some places, Jallikattu, or taming the wild bull contest, is the main event of this day and this is mostly seen in the villages.
Kaanum Pongal
The fourth day of the festival is Kaanum Pongal (காணும் பொங்கல்: the word kaanum means "to view"). During this day people visit their relatives, friends to enjoy the festive season. It is a day to thank relatives and friends for their support in the harvest. It started as a farmers festival, called as Uzhavar Thirunaal in Tamil. Kolam (கோலம்) decorations are made in front of the house during Thai Pongal festival.
Kerala
Makara Sankranti is celebrated in Kerala at Sabarimala where the Makara Jyothi is visible followed by the Makaravilakku celebrations.
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