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MAKARA SANKRANT 
Makara literally means 'Capricorn' and Sankranti
is the day when the sun passes from one sign of
the zodiac to the next. The Sankranti of any month
is considered auspicious as it signifies afresh
start. However Makara Sankranti is celebrated
in the month of Magha when the sun passes
through the winter solstice, from the Tropic of
Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn.
This feast is celebrated on January 14th, and
is the only feast of the Indian calendar which
is not celebrated on a fixed day of the lunar
month.
On this day the sun enters the constellation of
Makar (Croco-dile) and begins to move towards
the north. Throughout the year the sun passes
through twelve constellations: Mesh (Ram, Aries),
Vrishabh (Bull, Taurus), Mithun (Couple, Gemini),
Kark (Crab, Cancer), Sima (Lion, Leo), Kanya (Girl,
Virgo), Tula (Balance, Libra), Vrishchik (Scorpion),
Dhanu (Bow, Saggitarius), Makar (Crocodile, Capricorn),
Kumbh (Wateijar, Aquarius), Min (Fish, Pisces).
When the sun does not cross any constellation
then there is an extra month called "Adhik Mas".
The crossing of the Makar constellation takes
place in the month of Paush.
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"Tilgul",
Symbol of Friendship
On this day people eat "Khichadi"
made of rice and dal. The Paush month is also
known as Dhundhur Mas and people eat "bajari"
bread mixed with "til" (Sesamum). On the feast
of Sankrant "til" is given great importance, for
in this season it is considered to have special
nutritive and medicinal qualities. "Til" is a
very oil-giving seed. Mixed with jaugari or sugar
it becomes a very sticky sweet which people exchange
with one another as a sign of friendship. "Tilgul
ghya, god bola." ("Take tilgul and speak sweetly")
is the phrase on everybody's lips. With this
good social custom enmities are forgotten and
new friendships started. People are encouraged
to emulate the quality of "Tilgul" and stick to-
gether in permanent union and love.
On this day ladies apply "halad-kumkum"
(turmeric powder) on each other's forehead, and
children fly kites. Many people take bath at Prayag,
near Allahabad, at the meeting point of the Ganges
and the Yamuna.
Makara Sankranti is also celebrated
throughout India as a harvest festival. It is
a way of giving thanks to the elements of nature
that help man. This is the period when the winter
recedes, paving the way for the summer. It is
the time the farmers bring home their harvest.
In the coast al regions, it is a harvest festival
dedicated to Indra. In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,
it is celebrated as a three-day harvest festival
Pongal. In Assam, the festival is celebrated as
Bhogali Bihu, and in Punjab it is called Lohri.
Throughout the length and breadth
of India, 14th January is considered holy day
for sacred baths in places of pilgrimage rivers
and tanks. In fact, bathing is considered mandatory
on this day, and according to a popular local
belief in the hills of Uttar Pradesh, one who
does not bathe on Makara Sankranti is born a donkey
in his next birth. The maximum gatherings are
to be found in Triveni sangam in Allahabad, in
an island near Calcutta and in Brahmasarovara
of Kurukshetra. The sacred Ganges is believed
to have descended on this day from the heavens,
in order to reach Patala.
The story connected with it is
well known. Apart from Triveni, ritual bathing
also takes place at many places like Haridvar
and Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh, and Patna
in Bihar.
A big fair is held at the confluence
of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Sarasvati rivers
at Triveni in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) on this
occasion. Being the month of Magha, this fair
is also called Magha Mela.
Since it is also the season to
fly kites, the evening sky is a wash with
colourful kites of all shapes and sizes.
Several kite competitions are held
in various localities.
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THE STORY
King Sagara of the Solar dynasty was
very illustrious and pious. He completed performance
of ninety nine Aswamedha yagyas i.e. horse sacrifices
and wished to perform the hundredth one also so
that he would replace Indra as the king of the
Gods. He had sixty thousand sons all of whom followed
the sacrificial horse in its one-year wanderings
round the earth. Indra was very jealous and wanted
to obstruct the successful performance of the
sacrifice, as his own position was threatened.
As the horse was wandering, Indra came in an invisible
form and stole away the horse. The sons of King
Sagara who were closely following the horse were
baffled by the sudden disappearance of the horse.
They made a hectic search for the horse on earth.
When they couldn't find it anywhere they started
digging the earth in order to reach Patala, the
nether world. Indra took the horse to Patala and
tied it to a tree in front of the place where
Kapila Maharshi was doing tapas. Sagara's sons
dug up the earth and made a passage to Patala
and entered it to search for the horse. As soon
as they reached the place where Sage Kapila was
doing tapas, they found the horse near the tree.
They jumped to the conclusion that the sage committed
theft of the horse and rushed at him with out-drawn
swords shouting and abusing the sage. Kapila Maharashi
was disturbed by their shouts and opened his eyes
in anger. Lo, with one look, the sixty thousand
princes was only a mountain of ashes. The sage
resumed his tapas.
King Sagara impatiently waited for
the return of his sons along with the horse hoping
to conclude his hundredth sacrifice. At long last,
he came to know through Narada, the fate of his
sons because of the mischief played by Indra.
He was told that unless the Holy Ganges flowed
over the ashes of his sons, their souls would
never attain salvation. Poor Sagara was heart
broken. He was already old by that time and had
no more energy left to do this. He had one grandson.
Ansumanta the sole male member of the family who
survived. He entrusted the grandson with the duty
of bringing the heavenly Ganges to Patala and
release the souls of his uncles from perdition.
Ansumanta tried, his son Dileepa tried,
but in vain. They too died in sorrow for not having
been successful in bringing down the holy Ganges.
But Bhageeratha, the son of Dileepa was more successful.
He performed intense tapas for Brahma, for Ganges,
and Lord Siva and at last got the heaven-born
Ganga onto the matted locks of Lord Siva and from
there, one thin stream followed Bhageeratha to
Patala and flowed over the ashes of Sagara's sons
and uplifted their souls to higher worlds. As
per tradition, the Ganges descended from heaven
on 14th January. Hence the special sanctity of
the day.
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VAISHNAVAITES
For the Vaishnavaites in South India,
the month in which Makara Sankranti occurs is
Dhanurmasa, very very sacred as Andal. One of
their Alwars played on her heart's strings to
please Lord Vishnu and became his spouse in this
month. Throughout the month they spend the days
singing Tiruppavai, the melodious poems sung by
Andal and doing special poojas in the Temples.
In Andhra, 14th January is connected with the
harvest season and also with the Gopis of Brindavan.
For one month before Sankranti, huge patterns
of Rangoli are drawn in front of the houses, and
young unmarried girls make round balls of fresh
cow dung, decorate them with flowers and place
them on the Rangoli. In the evenings the balls
are made into dry cakes and preserved carefully
till the 13th of January. The three days, 13th
to 15th are known as Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanumau.
On 13th early in the morning a big bonfire is
made and all the dry cakes are burnt. In the evening
the girls worship the fresh cow dung balls which
are called Gobbi a corruption of Gopi. The unmarried
girls pray for suitable husbands singing and dancing
round the balls.
As the harvest festivals, it is believed
that King Bali rises up from Patala on 13th, goes
round on 14th and returns to his Patala on the
15th. So on 13th Rangoli is drawn in the form
of a chariot leading in one direction and on 15th
again the chariots are drawn leading in the opposite
direction indicating the return of King Bali.
Doll shows are arranged in the houses and the
women folk visit one another's houses for seeing
the doll shows. This is to inculcate in the hearts
of the people spirit of sacrifice. Bali, when
prosperity comes. They should remember God and
also the man in need when there is abundance.
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MAKARA
- THE CROCODILE
While the religious practices are more
or less observed due to faith in the Sastras and
the elders, for the spiritual seeker, the observances
hold the key to salvation. All these festivals
point out to the intelligent man the need to become
introvert.
Sankranti means a turning or a complete
revolution. A revolutionary change in life from
the materialistic to the spiritual seeking is
the true Sankranti. Makara means crocodile. The
crocodile of samsar is keeping the ordinary man
in its grip. To turn away from its clutches is
the way to salvation. was the ceremony of Driving
Away the Devil.
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