It's Sankranti -- Greet with Sweet

Eat sweet, Talk sweet and be sweet

India is a land of festivals and fairs. Every day of the year there is a festival celebrated in some part of the country. Some festivals welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest, the rains, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings, saints, and gurus or the advent of the New Year. A number of these festivals are common to most parts of India. However, they may be called by different names in various parts of the country or may be celebrated in a different fashion. After all India is a country of diversity.

Makar Sankranti is one such festival that is celebrated all over India in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor & gaiety. It is one of the most auspicious days for the Hindus. The Sanskrit term "Shankramana" means "to begin, to move". The day on which the sun begins to move northwards is called Makara Sankranti. Interestingly, this is the only festival in Hindu calendar that follows a solar calendar and is celebrated on the fourteenth of January every year (all other Hindu festivals are computed using the lunar calendar).

On this eve in Karnataka, Ellu Bella - a mixture of teel, jaggery, fried gram, groundnuts (peanuts) is exchanged. Along with sweets, flowers, bangles, dry fruits, sugarcane, sugar cadies are also exchanged. The significance of this exchange is that sweetness should prevail in all the dealings. It's a favourite festival for children as they wear new dresses, meet their friends and relatives and exchange the sweets and enjoy the moment. In the old Mysore region, people decorate their houses and cattle. They also worship their crop and cattle. In the evening, the cattle in each village are led out in procession to the beat of drums and music. As a part of the celebration they sing and dance, and look forward for flowering of the trees and singing of birds.

Sankranti is termed as Pongal in Tamilnadu, and is celebrated with a popular dish with the same name. Kolams (Rangoli) and prayers constitute the celebration of the festival. People buy new clothes, ornaments, sugarcane and sweet candy for the festival. The farmers worship their harvested crops and share with friends and relatives. Women and young girls wear new clothes, wear golden and silver ornaments, volunteer different flowers and visit their relatives and friends.

On Makar Sankranti day the Sun begins its ascendancy and journey into the Northern Hemisphere, and thus it signifies an event wherein all are reminded that 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya'- May you go higher & higher - towards more & more Light and never towards darkness.

Wish You A Very Happy
Makara Sankramana

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