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MAKAR SANKRANTI
Sankranti celebrated on January 14th. It is a day of month when sun moves from
one Zodiac sign to other. The word Sankranti is derived from word - Sat + Kranti means good change or
auspiciios movement. Sankranti also signify change. Sankranti is considered an
auspicious day. Makar means Capricorn. On Makar Sankranti sun moves
from Sagittarius into Capricorn.
Sankranti is once in a month. Makar
Sankranti is celeberated once in year
Makar Sankranti is celeberated in every parts of India. In local
language hindi, Telgu, Marathi, Kannada, Assamese it is written as
Telugu: మకర à°¸ంà°•్à°°ాంà°¤ి
Marathi: मकर संक्रान्ति
Kannada: ಮಕರ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿ
Assamese: মকৰ সংক্রান্তি
Tithi(Date)
This festival, unlike other Hindu festivals, is not dependent on
the position of the moon, but on position of the sun. On this day, the sun
enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn. To compensate for the difference that
occurs due to the revolution around the sun, every eighty years the day of
sankrant is postponed by one day. In the present period Makar-sankrant falls on
14th January.
Sankranti History
Makar Sankranti marks the day when the sun begins its northward
journey and enters the sign of Makar (the Capricorn) from the Tropic
of Cancer. It is like the movement of sun from Dakshinayana (south)
to Uttarayana (north) hemisphere. It is the one of the few chosen Indian
Hindu festivals which has a fixed date. This day falls on the 14th of January
every year according to the Hindu Solar Calendar.
Sankranti means transmission
of Sun from one zodiac in Indian astrology to the other. As per Hindu customary
beliefs, there are 12 such Sankrantis in all. But the festival is celebrated
only on the occasion of Makara Sankaranti i.e. the transition of the Sun from Sagittarius
('Dhanu' Rashi ) to Capricorn('Makara' Rasi). In this case, the zodiacs
are measured sidereally, and not tropically, in order to account the Earth's
precession. That is why the festival falls about 21 days after the tropical
winter solstice which lies between December 20 and 23rd. Here the sun marks the
starting of Uttarayana, which means northern progress of Sun.
It is
believed that the great Bhishma of Mahabharatha who had fallen to the
arrows of Arjun and who had a boon to choose the time of his death, waited
on the bed of arrows to depart from this world only during this period.
