Makar Sankranti

The Indian festival of Makar Sankranti is celebrated on January 14th each year, in the month of the winter solstice when the sun begins to rise in the Makar rashi (constellation). The festival is also known as Uttarayan as the sun begins it’s northward journey.

For the northern hemisphere, winter solstice is the darkest, shortest day of the year as the earth’s axis is tilted farthest from the sun. It is a welcome change as from then on, the days just get longer, brighter and warmer.

At the same time, the southern hemisphere experiences it’s summer solstice.

It is a very significant astronomical event and has been a reason for celebration since pre historic times as life on earth is completely dependent on the sun and the seasonal changes it brings about. It is a festival of nature!

Humans the world over have felt a certain reverence, gratitude and connection with this celestial body which re surges with a great new hope after the temporary set back during winter.

For the Maya civilisation, the sun was a deity, a provider of light and the rulers sometimes tried to connect with it. They tracked the movements of the sun, to understand the order of the universe and created complex, precise calendars. They constructed ceremonial sites aligned so precisely so as to observe the phenomena of the summer and winter solstices and equinoxes.

In the celtic tradition, wise women and men, the druids, would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and offer it as a blessing each year.

According to an old Celtic myth, on the solstices of each year the Oak King, representing the light, and the Holly King, representing the dark, would fight, with the Oak King emerging victorious at the winter solstice, enabling the return of the light.

Stonehenge, believed to be built by the neolithic people, is a monument aligned to the movements of the sun and frames the winter and summer solstices. The sunrise after the shortest night is important in the pagan calendar, as it marks the “re-birth” of the sun for the new year.

Philosphically speaking, it is the victory of light over darkness.

Spiritually, it is an inspiration for humans to move from ignorance to knowledge. The knowledge of one’s true nature, our inner being, which is eternal, ‘Sat cit ananda’.

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya

From darkness to light

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28

Every festival, obviously, has a ritual or celebration and more importantly, a reason for the celebration. It is important to understand the logic behind the festival, so it can have an impact on our lives and bring about a positive change in our thinking and attitudes. Rituals are an expression of joy and gratitude, an after effect, due to an appreciation of the reason!

Ritually, Makar Sankranti is celebrated by flying kites and making sweets from ’til’ and ‘gud’.

But again, why?

The human ego, like the kite, flies high, due to success, riches, power and so on. The kite, once on a high, up in the sky, might foolishly start to believe, ‘Oh! I can fly on my own, who needs the control’…..and severs the connection! The next thing you know, it is making it’s way down, gets stuck on a tree and ends up torn and battered, wondering, what went wrong!

Moral of the metaphor?

• To realise, I am not independent of God. My very existence, my every breath is because of Him, leave alone flying!

• To entrust Him with the strings of my life. He knows what’s best for me.

• To accept all the joys with gratitude, and sorrows as a challenge for bettering myself. After all, gold too must go through fire to end up pure.

Practically speaking, flying kites is good for the body and mind too. During winter, people need a reason and some encouragement to shake off the couch potato syndrome, step out into the sunshine, get their daily dose of Vitamin D, socialise and engage in some healthy competition.

No festival is ever sustainable without ‘gud’ food. In this case, sweets made from gud (jaggery) and til (sesame seeds). The idea is to share the sweets with friends, neighbours and relatives and infuse a sweetness into these relationships, forgetting and forgiving old arguments.

Besides, it is also harvest time for sesame seeds, which according to Ayurveda, give a certain warmth to the body. Massaging the body with sesame seed oil is also excellent for the skin, stiff joints and those creaky winter bones.

In effect, Makar Sankranti brings about a mindfulness towards natural phenomenon and the seasons on earth we often take for granted. It is also just one more reminder of our inter connectedness with nature and the one super power behind the entire universe.