Every year, on 14th Jan, ‘Makar Sankranti’ is celebrated all over India in different cultural forms. The festival marks the beginning of Sun’s journey towards the Northern Hemisphere (Makara also called Capricorn in English), and hence the name. Makar Sankranti or simply Sankranti or Sankrant is a highly regarded festival of Hindus. It is known by various names from North to South of India. Let’s check how different parts of India are celebrating Jan 14, 2009.

Following are the festivals that India is celebrating on 14th Jan 2009:

• Pongal: Pongal is one of the highly revered harvest festivals of South India. In Tamil, “Pongal” means “boiling over.” Pongal is the festival of thanksgiving to Sun God, Mother Earth and cattles for producing a good harvest. Every year, Pongal is celebrated between January 13th and 16th. This year, Pongal falls on Wednesday, January 14th 2009. Pongal is celebrated for a period of four days. Each day has its own special significance; separate deities are worshipped on each day. People celebrate the festival with family and friends and give special treats to cattle of the house. Pongal marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.
• Makar Sankranti: The speciality of Makar Sankranti is that every year this festival is celebrated on 14th Jan and this year too there is no exception. In Northern India, devotees take holy dips in Ganga Sagar, Prayag, etc and chant “Gayatri Mantra’ before the Sun God. In Bengal, big Mela is held at Ganga Sagar and is attended by pilgrims all over the country. It is believed that a dip in Ganga Sagar can absolve a person of his sins.
• Pedda Panduga: In Andhra Pradesh, Makara Sankranti is known as ‘Pedda Panduga’ (meaning big festival) and is basically a three-day harvest festival. The actual festival begins after the day of ‘Bhogi’. The first day is called Sankranti, second day is known as Kanuma and the final day as Mukkanuma. On Bhogi, people paint, clean and decorate their houses, on Kanuma people engage in feasting while in Mukkanuma they worship their cattles.

In addition, Punjabis celebrate Sankrant as ‘Lohari’ on 13th of Jan every year by lighting huge bonefires and dancing to the tune of Bhangra. Assamese celebrate their Mag Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in mid January. But, whatever name you call, Sankranti joins the entire India with a common thread of hope. The hope is for prosperity, happiness, togetherness and peace. You can call Sankranti as a celebration of that hope.