Makar Sankranti is a prominent Hindu festival. It celebrates the Sun’s transition into the zodiac sign of Capricorn or Makar Rashi, which signifies the end of the winter solstice. From this day, the days start to get longer, and it is also the beginning of the harvest season. Hindus thank the Surya Bhagwan on this day for His boundless blessings that make life possible on the earth. The celebrations include holy dips in the rivers, bonfires, feasts and flying kites. Different names and variations across India celebrate the festival.
The changing date of Makar Sankranti
According to the Solar Calendar, the exact date varies slightly each year. Traditionally, it falls on 14th January and sometimes shifts to 15th January. This variation is due to the solar cycle and the Earth’s axial precession. One Earth year is about 365.24 days long. The solar cycle is set by the sidereal time when the Sun enters Capricorn.
To adjust for this difference, leap years are added to the calendar, causing Makar Sankranti to fall on 15h January during those years. Furthermore, the time difference between two consecutive instances of Makar Sankranti is almost the same as a year. It leads to gradual shifts in the data over time. The precession of equinoxes, where the tropical zodiac shifts about one degree every 72 years, also contributes to these changes.
As a result, the festival will increasingly fall on 15th January in the 21st century. In the 20th century, it used to fall on the 14th of January and on the 13th of January in the 19th century. Furthermore, from 2102, it will increasingly fall on 16th January.
Festivals that fall a day before Makar Sankranti
Every year, festivities happen across the country with different names and variations a day before Makar Sankranti. In Punjab, people celebrate Lohri, which marks the end of winter. The festival is celebrated by burning bonfires and offering food items to the fire like gajak, peanuts and more. Dance and music are part of the celebrations.
In Assam, people celebrate Bihu, a harvest festival featuring traditional feasts and bonfires. In Tamil Nadu, people celebrate Pongal, which is marked by cooking Pongal dishes, puja and other festivities.
Rituals and traditions
Some of the most common rituals and traditions followed on Makar Sankranti include holy dips in sacred rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari or Krishna. It is believed that such dips absolve past sins. Hindus also worship the Sun God on this day, offering him flowers, river water, betel leaves and Prasad. There is a Haldi Kumkum ceremony, a ritual among married women that symbolises the activation of positive energies. One of the most common practices on this day is charity. Apart from food items, clothes, etc., people traditionally distribute jaggery and sesame seeds, and it is believed that charity brings back blessings a hundredfold.
Astrological and astronomical aspects
Astrologically, Makar Sankranti’s significance is connected to the Hindu God Surya. The festival is dedicated to Bhagwan Surya and holds importance for purification rituals and spiritual journeys. The astronomical basis lies in the Sun’s ecliptic longitude reaching 270°, measured from a fixed starting point opposing the star Spica. It is a sidereal measure that differs from the tropical measure used for calculating Uttarayana, another significant period in Hinduism. The precession of the equinoxes causes the tropical zodiac to shift gradually. It affects the dates of equinoxes and solstices and festivals like Makar Sankranti.
