Makar Sankranti मकर संक्रांति

Unlike most Hindu festivals, Makar Sankranti follows the sun and not the moon, which is why it falls on nearly the same date every year. It marks the Sun's entry into Makara, Capricorn, and the start of Uttarayana, the northward course of the Sun. The Mahabharata tells that Bhishma, lying on his bed of arrows, waited for this period before giving up his life, and that story is a big reason Uttarayana is treated as a favourable time for new undertakings.

The festival has different faces across the country. In Gujarat and Rajasthan the sky fills with kites, and Ahmedabad hosts a large international kite event. In Maharashtra people exchange til-gul sweets with the greeting to speak sweetly, and in Tamil Nadu the same moment becomes Pongal. Punjab marks the eve as Lohri, Assam as Magh Bihu, and Karnataka as Suggi, with the Ellu Bella exchange of sesame and jaggery. In Odisha the day is also honoured with a special Makara Chula dish at the Jagannath temple at Puri, according to local custom.

Taking a dip in a river is an old custom of the day, and pilgrims gather at the Ganga Sagar confluence in Bengal and at the Magh Mela in Prayagraj. Sesame and jaggery are warming foods that suit the cold season, and giving them away, along with khichdi, blankets or grain, is a form of charity commonly linked to the day. The Mahabharata link also explains why many people avoid weddings in the preceding months and resume them afterward.