Uttarayan – Colours of Makar Sankraman | Spiritual Significance | Traditions
Uttarayan holds immense astrological and traditional importance and it is celebrated on the day the Sun transitions from the Dhanussu Rashi or Sagittarius, to Makar Rashi or Capricorn, announcing the arrival of spring and the harvest season. Uttarayan or the Makar Sankraman (Sankranti) brings hope, harvest and prosperity. This is also the time for special rituals that are forbidden during Dakshinayan.
Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan festival is on 15th January, 2024.
Almost all the states of India celebrate this Uttarayan festival with varied festivities including singing and dancing. In northern India, the festival is known as Lohri, while in Assam it is called Bhogali Bihu. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is known as Sankranti. Telugu speaking regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana celebrate the first festival of Uttarayan as Bhogi. Tamil Nadu celebrates the four-day event of Uttarayan Sankranti with Pongal and the popular event of Jallikattu.
PurePrayer takes you on a Spiritual Journey for a better understanding of Dakshinayan and Uttarayan. Let’s welcome Uttarayan for the good harvest it brings and offer our prayers, seeking solutions to the life’s challenges in our traditions and spiritual practices.
Dakshinayan and Uttarayan explained
Dakshinayan begins from Ashadhamaas in Grishma Ritu and ends with Paushmaas in Hemant Ritu. During this southern run, what is below the Anahata Chakra is given importance for purification.
Uttarayan begins from the day of Makar Sankraman in Paush Maas and ends with Karkatak Sankraman in Ashadh Maas. During this northern run, what is above the Anahata can be given priority for purification.
Hence, in terms of Sadhana or penances, Dakshinayana is for purification. Uttarayana is for enlightenment. This is the period of receptivity, of grace and enlightenment, of attainment of the ultimate. This is the time to harvest both on the ground and in the mind.
As the Uttarayan is fast approaching and round the corner, let’s take a deep-dive into the festivals and rituals in this half.
What is special about Uttarayan Festivities?
Generally, Uttarayan festivities last for two to four days in various regions of India. Worshipping Lord Soorya (Sun) is an important part of the Uttarayan festival. Other spiritual practices are, a holy dip in sacred water bodies like rivers or seas or in the Tirtha Kshetras. Offering Tarpans to Pitru Devatas is part of Makar Sankraman. Performing charity by giving to the needy, flying kites, preparation of sweets made of sesame and jaggery, offering Pooja to livestock and many more.
Many Sarp Dosh Nivaran Pujas like Ashlesha Bali, Naga Pratishta, Kaala Sarpa Shanti Sarpa Samskara Pujas and many others are performed in the Uttarayan season for better and greater results. You can read more about Sarp Dosh Nivaran Pujas here.
https://www.pureprayer.com/events/samoohikapujas/sarp-dosh-pujas/
Uttarayan in Puranas
According to the epic Mahabharat, Bhishma (Born as Devavrat or Gangeya), had the boon of Icchamaran (choosing his own time and day of death) and Bhishma had waited for the sun to be in Uttarayan to embrace death.
This is also the time when the sun begins to move North and before Uttarayan, the sun shines on the southern hemisphere. Hindus believe this period to be auspicious and look forward to celebrate Uttarayana.
Gautama also attained on the third full moon day after Uttarayana. And in South India, there are examples of innumerable saints, sages, siddhas and yogis who have made the transition during this period.
Uttarayan – Festival of Delicacies
Northern parts of India that includes, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand is well-known for preparing ‘Khichdi’, an interesting dish consumed during this festival. This is the reason why Uttarayan is also known as Khichdi. In Gorakhpur, it is customary for devotees to offer Khichdi to the Gorakhnath temple while in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, Lohri is observed one day before Uttarayan.
Uttarayan & Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, the day of Uttarayan is celebrated as Makar Sankranti. Here, taking a ritual bath in the river is considered mandatory on this day. According to a popular belief in the hills of Uttar Pradesh, a person who does not take a bath on this auspicious day will be born as a donkey in his next birth.
Apart from this ritual bathing, donating khichdi (a cooked mixture of rice and lentils) is also one of the important aspects of the Makar Sankranti celebration in Uttar Pradesh.
To mark the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a big ‘Mela’ or fair is organized at the Triveni Sangam in Gaya-Prayag (Allahabad). As the Mela is held in the beginning of the month of Magha, this fair is named as Magha Mela. Apart from Triveni Sangam, ritual bathing is also organized at places like Haridwar and Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh. Many kite-flying competitions are also held in various localities to mark the occasion.
Makar Sankranti in Gujarat
Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Uttarayan in Gujarat. Dedicated to the Sun god, Uttarayan marks the arrival of spring. Gujarat’s Uttarayan festivities are rich in traditions. Kite flying, making delicacies with til (sesame seeds) and gur (jaggery), the ritual of taking a holy bath in the rivers are an integral part of Uttarayan festivities.
It is believed that after the winter-chill, the bright sunshine of Uttarayan brings good health and happiness and to mark the change of season, people like to get out of their houses and enjoy the sunshine. Kite flying is a cheerful activity and traditional one closely linked with Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti festival in the Northern India.
Many people also see this as an expression of gratitude to the Sun god and as a means of communicating with Pitru Devatas or Pitrus.
Celebrations of Uttarayan in Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, Makar Sankranti is marked by the flying of kites. The entire sky becomes a showcase of colorful kites of various sizes and shapes. On this day, people exchange homemade delicacies like til and gur laddoos made with sesame and jaggery, exchanging best wishes.
Newly wed woman offers oil, cotton and sesame seeds to the temple, to mark the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti. This is believed to bestow upon her and her family long life and prosperity. The women wear new clothes, new glass bangles, and relatives are invited to attend the Haldi Kumkum celebration to welcome the new bride into their family.
Pongal in the South India
The harvest festival of Pongal in the South India that includes the regions of Kannada speaking, Tamil speaking and Tamil speaking regions, has its unique regional significance. Agricultural harvests begin during this period. So it is not only the time of harvesting food grains, but also the time to harvest human potential.
Makar Sankraman | Makar Sankranti in Karnataka
In Karnataka, the festival is simply called ‘Sankranti’, and cows and bullocks are gaily decorated and fed ‘Pongal’- a sweet preparation of rice. Special prayers are offered in the temples and houses. In the evening, the cattle are led out in procession to the beat of drums and music. In the night a bonfire is lit and the animals are made to jump over the fire.
Makar Sankranti is marked by men, women and children wearing colorful clothing; visiting near and dear ones; and exchanging pieces of sugarcane, a mixture of “Ellu-Bella” that consists of til, jaggery, dried coconut pieces, groundnuts and fried gram. A local saying about this exchange is:
“ಎಳ್ಳು ಬೆಲ್ಲ ತಿಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಮಾತಾಡಿ” (Ellu-Bella thindu oLLe maaTaaDi), meaning ‘Do good and talk good, eat the til and jaggery mixture” is a popular saying about Makar Sankranti in Karnataka.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu
Pongal is a four-days-long harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India. The word ‘Pongal’ takes its name from the Tamil word meaning “to boil off”, and is held in the month of Thai (January-February) during the season when rice and other cereals, sugar-cane and turmeric are harvested.
Tamilians say ‘Thai pirandhaal vazhi pirakkum’, and believe that knotty family problems will be solved with the advent of the Tamil month Thai that begins on Pongal day. This is also the month of weddings among the Tamil speaking.
In Tamil Nadu, women perform a ritual before bathing in the morning of Kannum Pongal.
All the women, young and old, of the house assemble in the courtyard. The rice is placed in the centre of the leaf, while the women ask that the house and family of their brothers should prosper. Arati is performed for the brothers with turmeric water, limestone and rice, and this water is sprinkled on the kolam (Rangoli) in front of the house. Arati is performed to the cattle, so as to ward off the evil eye.
Participate in Panchami Special Varahi Homam on 15th Jan, 2024
Pongalu in Telugu Desam
This first day is celebrated as Bhogi festival in honor of Lord Indra, the supreme ruler of Swargalok and clouds that give rains. Homage is paid to Lord Indra for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty and prosperity to the land. Another ritual observed on this day is ‘Bhogi Mantalu’ – a bon-fire, when useless household articles are thrown into a fire made of wood and cow-dung cakes. Girls dance around the bonfire, singing songs in praise of the gods, the spring and the harvest.
On the second day of Pongal, the freshly harvested rice is boiled in milk outdoors, in an earthenware pot and is then symbolically offered to Lord Surya, along with other oblations. everyone wears traditional dress and markings.
The third day is known as ‘Mattu Pongal’, the day of Pongal for cows. Multi-coloured beads, tinkling bells, sheaves of corn and flower garlands are tied around the neck of the cattle and then are worshiped. They are fed with Pongal and taken to the village centers. The resounding of their bells attract the villagers as the young men race cattle. The entire atmosphere becomes festive and full of fun and revelry.
The Fourth day is known as Kanu or Kannum Pongal day. On this day, a turmeric leaf is washed and is then placed on the ground. On this leaf are placed, the left overs of sweet Pongal and Venn Pongal, ordinary rice as well as rice coloured red and yellow, betel leaves, betel nuts, two pieces of sugarcane, turmeric leaves, and plantains.
Legend of Pongalu
According to a legend, once Shiva asked his carrier, Nandi (Basava in Kannada) to go to the earth and ask the mortals to have an oil massage and bath every day and to eat once a month. Inadvertently, Basava announced that everyone should eat daily and have an oil bath once a month. This mistake enraged Shiva who then cursed Basava, banishing him to live on the earth forever. He would have to plough the fields and help people produce more food. Thus the association of this day with cattle.
Participate in Subramanya Shashthi Special Subramanya Sahasranama Homa + Kadali Yaga on Pausha Shukla Paksha Shashthi, 16th January, 2024 in Sri Shanmukha Subramanya Temple at Udupi, seeking reduction of Kuja Dosh, Manglik Dosh, Sarpa Dosh problems and leading to a happy married life blessed with off-springs.
Subramanya Shashti Special | Subramanya Sahasranama Homa | Udupi | 16th Jan 2024
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