Makar Sankranti

How it is kept

1. 01

   A holy bath at dawn in a river or at the sea

2. 02

   Til-gud laddoos and gifts of sesame, blankets and grain

3. 03

   Khichdi offered and eaten in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

4. 04

   Kite flying in Gujarat and Rajasthan

5. 05

   The Gangasagar mela at the mouth of the Hooghly

01The sun turns north

Sankranti means the sun’s passage from one rashi to the next; there are twelve a year, and Makara Sankranti is the one honoured above the rest as the start of Uttarayana, the sun’s northern course. The Gita (8.24) names the six months of Uttarayana as the path of light by which yogis reach Brahman, and the Mahabharata tells that Bhishma, lying on his bed of arrows, held back his death until the sun turned north. Because the Panchang counts the rashis against the stars, the festival now falls about three weeks after the winter solstice.

02Til, khichdi and kites

Maharashtra hands out tilgul with the words tilgul ghya, god god bola, take this sweet and speak sweetly. At the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur lakhs offer khichdi to Baba Gorakhnath. Gujarat spends the day on its rooftops flying kites. At Gangasagar, where the Ganga meets the sea, pilgrims bathe at dawn and visit the Kapil Muni temple; at Prayagraj the Magh Mela’s bathing season begins. In Kerala, at Sabarimala, the Makaravilakku is seen on the hill on this evening.