Makara Sankranti is a festival for all nature loving people. After all, our world is illumined only by the light of the sun and its life-giving rays. Here are three aspects of Makara Sankranti that will hopefully add clarity to why this festival is important.
Makara Sankranti means
Makara is the sign of Capricorn in our Zodiac and the word ‘Sankranti' comes from the words 'sam' meaning good and 'kranthi' meaning change. So a change for good. Another simpler meaning for Sankranti comes from the word 'sankramana' meaning transits. Only the navagrahas (five planets, two nodes of the moon, the moon and the Sun) transit as far as astrology goes. Every month the Sun transits into one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. On Makara Sankranti day, the splendid sun enters the sign of Makara (Capricorn). When Sun enters thus Capricorn, the change for good happens and that occurs on 14 or 15 January every year. For many, the entry of the Sun begins its journey into the Northern Hemisphere. From this day onwards, the days slowly start becoming longer and warmer, and the chill in the air goes on the decline.
Rejoicing on solar events
The importance of the Sun to life on earth is a no-brainer. Nature is an integral part of life. The position of the sun on the sky implies change in climate and weather patterns affecting agriculture and vegetation. So - No Sun, no fun. No Sun, no seasons. No Sun, no life. No Sun, no rotation. No Sun, no time. In fact, No Sun - No Sunday.
For spiritual aspirants, it is the Sun, which is the symbol of manifest divinity. In the highest philosophy of India i.e. Vedanta, the Sun is symbol of the Supreme. The Rig Veda declares that the "Sun is the Soul of both moving and unmoving beings". The daily chanting of the famous Gayatri Mantra invokes the Sun (Savitur) to manifest intelligence and wisdom. For those who like reading the horoscope in the newspaper, Sun (in all astrology—western and Vedic) signifies the individual self, self-esteem, eyes, personality, higher office and our spirit.
Why Makara Sankranti it is a multi-cultural Sun festival?
Indians over millennia have indeed perfected the art of being in line with nature and divinity. Add to that a dose of dharma and the practice of seeing the divine, you have a rich Hindu festival. Then make sweets and savoury and give that bhog (acknowledgement) to the divine, you have a memorable festival bringing joy and harmony to everyone. It is not a coincidence that almost all important astronomical events has a significance in nourishing the India's cultural life and calendar. Cosmic actions relate to human life and has been incorporated in the Indian cultural calendar. No wonder it is a product of the longest, continuous civilisation. A cosmic event is a scientific empirical phenomena and bringing it to human life is to integrate a culture of sync-ing spirituality and nature.
Makara Sankranti also makes it a multi-cultural festival. Why so? Well, it is celebrated in many states of India, including countries in South East Asia. It is the day of the Pongal harvest festival in Tamil Nadu. In Gujarat it is celebrated with colourful kite flying, which also implies that the divine holds the kite-strings (Sutradhaar) of our lives. In Uttar Pradesh, the famous Magha Mela begins on this day at Prayaag with holy dips in the Triveni and people holy-dipping in the Ganga sagar of West Bengal.
Makara Sankranti is thus a textbook case festival for any Sun-loving person to express their gratitude to nature and to the giver of nature.
Shriya Bhagwat-Chitale
“This year I have an invitation to attend a Sankrant lunch at a friend’s home. True to tradition, the dress code is all black. We will share a traditional meal, til-gul laddoos and exchange small gifts (haldi-kunku). I find such low-key celebrations to be really great opportunity to bond with my friends. In India, we would celebrate Sankrant similarly, except that the seasons would be exactly opposite at the same time in the Northern hemisphere.”
Aditee Naik
“In India, Sankrant is celebrated as a winter festival and growing up in Mumbai, I have great memories of flying kites with my friends that is one of the special traditions observed in the community to celebrate the festival. Here in New Zealand, I’ll mark the festival by making the traditional sweets at home. Usually, when the sweets are shared it is accompanied by a really cute reminder to speak sweetly and use gentle words with each other in the forthcoming year. That is the most charming ritual which I follow in New Zealand too.”
Sara Janvekar
“This year, I’ll be celebrating Sankrant in a very special way this is our baby’s first. So, I plan to dress him in a special black outfit complete with edible jewellery made out of sugar. The ceremony is known in Marathi as ‘bor nahaan’, and we will shower the baby with chocolates (to replace traditional berries). In India, kids particularly enjoy this festival, because they’re all invited home and entertained. I am very excited to be planning this in New Zealand.”
Recipes
Til Gur laddoo: Roasted sesame seeds combined with jaggery and shaped as laddoos
Prep time: 6-10 minutes
Cook time: 11-15 minutes
Ingredients:
Sesame seeds (til) lightly roasted1 1/2 cups
Jaggery (gur) chopped 1 cup
Dry coconut grated1/2 cup
Green cardamom powder 1/4 teaspoon
Method:
Step 1
Grind sesame seeds and jaggery to a coarse mixture using a mixer or a mortar and pestle.
Step 2
Transfer the mixture onto a plate, add dried coconut and green cardamom powder and mix well.
Step 3
Divide this mixture into equal portions and shape into lemon-sized ladoos.
Step 4
Store in airtight jars.