India is the kingdom of festivals, We are the only country where we celebrate our lives and togetherness through various joyful festivals throughout the whole year. Everyone has its favorite one, some like Dipawali, some like Holi and some waits for the Rakshabandhan. Among all these festival, Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan is also a widely celebrated festival.
Why we celebrate Makar Sankranti?
The Makar Sankranti is celebrated on 14th January every year. It is one of the major harvest festivals which is enjoyed with a lot of jolliness and energy. From this day onwards, farmers harvest their crops until the next couple of months. It is celebrated in many states of India like Madhya Pradesh, in Gujrat. this festival is known as Uttarayan, in Tamil Nadu, it is Pongal.
One another mythological reason for celebrating this festival is that goddess Mahishasurmardini destroyed the evil Mahishasur and first set her foot on Earth, in the ashram of Rishi Kardam.
During Dwapar Era (Yug), In the war of The Mahabharat, Pitamah Devrath Bhishma decided to wait for the victory of Pandavas and after there victory, his soul left his body on the day on Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti).
But this festival also holds some scientific reason for why it is being celebrated among millions of people. So let’s have a look at the scientific reason.
Scientific reason behind Makar Sankranti Celebration
It is a celebration when the position of the sun changes from one zodiac to another zodiac. On 14th of January, the sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac. The zodiac (Rashi) phases of the Sun experiences decreasing sunlight from July to December. After that, the other subsequent zodiac phases experiences an increase in sunlight.
“Uttara” means the northward and the “Aayana” means movement in Sanskrit. This process of sun phase change from the southward movement to northward movement is called “Uttara Ayana” or “Uttarayan” and that is the reason why this festival also has it’s significance scientifically.
So, cherish this festival of the sun with your family, friends and enjoy the positive vibes and energy of Makar Sankranti.
In different parts of India, this festival is celebrated with a different name such as:
- Pongal (पोंगल) in South India.
- Lohri (लोहड़ी) in Punjab and Haryana.
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