Tuesday, January 15, 2008


Makar Sankranti
Makara Sankranti (It is a sanskrit word) is the harvest festival of India. Sankranti means transmigration of Sun from one Rashi (something akin to the zodiac) to the other. Hence there are 12 such Sankrantis in all. But the transition of Sun from Dhanu Rasi to Makara Rasi marks the starting of Uttarayana which means northern movement of Sun. Since Uttarayana is Considered as auspicious time, Makara Sankranti is celebrated as the beginning of that period It is celebrated by many cultures in different manners.
In North India,
Punjab - Lohri
Uttarakhand - Uttarayani
West Bengal and Assam - Bhogali Bihu
Gujarat and Rajastan - Uttarayan (Kite flying festival)
Maharashtra - Makar Sankrant
In South India,
In Kerala and Tamilnadu and Tamils in Sri Lanka - Pongal
In Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka - Sankranthi
Other places as Makara Sankranti.
The Gujarati people are the most prominent in celebrating Uttarayana, which is a prominent part of Gujarati culture by flying kites all over Gujarat and in Mumbai, India. Sankranthi is the most important festival of Telugu people, like Deepavali is for Tamil people.

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