Uttarayan, when the sun travels from south to north, marking the end of Winter Solstice. This is the time when India celebrates several festivals and harvests in many states. One of the widely known days comes between 14th January or 15th of January (for leap years). While celebrated under many names across India, in the eastern state of Bengal, this transition is observed as Poush Sankranti. Dedicated to the Sun God, this festival is a celebration of the path to enlightenment.
People gather to fly kites, exchange and consume sweets made of jaggery and sesame, take dips in holy rivers like Ganga, while eating flattened rice mixed with curd is another cherished ritual observed on this festival. While every state observes its own unique traditions, these shared customs can be found across the country, making it one of the ancient and most unifying festivals in Hinduism. There are a few tales that have been specified for this day. The first two stories have been passed to almost every Indian household; the third story however is still less known within the traditional Indian households:
First one comes from one of the most widely known of Mahabharata. Devavrata, revered as Bhisma Pitamah, the grandfather of Pandavas and Kauravas chose to fight on the Kauravas side in the Kurukshetra war. Bhisma showed his powerful strength and skills against Arjun. Arjun felt he could not defeat Bhisma anyhow. Years prior, Bhisma asked for a boon of Ichha Mityu which means that he could choose when he wishes to die from king Shantanu when he gave up his throne and swore a lifelong vow of celibacy (Brahmacharya), which made him known as Bhisma Pitamah to the world. Krishna guided Arjun not to defeat Bhisma but to make him lose his potential to use his skills in the war. Therefore, Arjun then decided to shoot hundreds of arrows at Bhisma. Firing hundreds of arrows, Arjun pierced every part of Bhishma’s body. When the great warrior finally fell, the shafts of the arrows held him above the earth, creating a “bed of arrows.”
He waited until the Summer Solstice to begin known to be the auspicious time so that he could leave his body. On the day dawn of Makar Sankranti, he finally took the name of the divine and decided to merge back to it.
The second story comes with the perspective of astronomy and astrology. Suryadev (the Sun God) had a wife named Sanjana. But she was reluctant to stay with him as his blazing radiance and intense heat made her unbearable to stay closer to him, so she decided to secretly leave the palace. But the Sun God could easily look every corner of the world and could find her, so she decided to transform as mare, and she created her clone named Chhaya (Shadow) so that Surya does not come to find her. She ordered Chhaya to take her place and stay with Suryadev until she returns. Days passed and soon a child was born from Chhaya. But the little infant had a dark complexion instead of the same radiance as his father. This made Suryadev furious accused of Chhaya raising other person’s child, but she confronted his accusations but later she had to confess that his first wife had left long ago as she could not bear his strong energies. Upon hearing that Surya went to take his first wife back. When Sanjana came back, she requested her father to trim off some brightness from the Sun God for her comfort. Chaaya’s baby was abandoned by his father long time back, so Chhaya secretly raised him in a dark place where sunrays don’t touch the land. The baby boy was named as Shani. He grew up with a bitter heart for his father and when Shani finally got his position as a planet and was declared as Shani Grah (Saturn Planet), it was finally the time when Sun God and Saturn finally decided that would meet only once in a year, setting aside all bitter moments they had caused for each other all those years. In terms of astrology, this day is stated as the Sun’s entry in Capricorn, since Capricorn is known as the zodiac sign of Saturn.
The third story is on the victory of the Goddesses who defeated demons. Goddess Sankranti defeated a demon named Sankarasura on the day Markar Sankranti and Kinkarasura the next day, which was celebrated as ‘Kinkrant’.
In Eastern India, it is called Poush Sankranti or Mokor Sonkranti. On this day, Bengalis often do many religious tasks like feeding seeds to birds, and cook sweetened Pithe, which is a special type of streamed dumplings made of rice flour filled with ground coconut and a special type jaggery which is often garnished with boiled sweet milk before serving. This special type of jaggery is called ‘Nolen Gur’, a liquidly jaggery derived from the palm trees of Bengal during the winter season. Not only it is used in Pithe making but also making Bengal’s famous Nolen Gur’s Rosgullas. It’s smoky, caramel texture often makes it easy to use for cooking and serving as a dessert in dinners.
On this day, people often wake up early bath with freezing cold waters and pray to god. After that, they start their day with eating Til and jaggery mixed sweet and then cook various dishes for this day. The coconut is grated using a Boti, a traditional wooden board with a curved, standing steel blade. This tool is not only used for coconuts but also cutting other vegetables, fishes etc., in traditional Bengali households.
Pithe an important dish for this day is made in two types. The first type is called Sweet Pithe which is made of coconut and jaggery while the other one is spicy one, which has cooked spicy flavored vegetable stuffing. This spicy Pithe is further used making a special spicy stew were these Pithe’s are added.
Also, Devotees take holy dips in rivers on this month of Magh, with the most significant pilgrimage happening at the Ganga Sagar Mela, where the Ganges River meets the Bay of Bengal. It actually once called a difficult pilgrim destination to cover. It had a very rigid and difficult path to cover; even bullock carts and carriages refused to take travelers there. Historically, traveling to Ganga Sagar was so treacherous that a famous proverb was born: “Sab tirtha baar baar, Ganga Sagar ek baar” (You may visit other pilgrimages again and again, but you can only visit Ganga Sagar once).
Despite so many rituals and stories that have been spoken about this festival, there are still many people who have a misconception regarding this festival. This widely accepted misconception is ‘Markar Sakranti’ is when the winter solstice ends so it is the beginning of Summer. This is quite actually a half information that gradually became a misinformation as the centuries passed.
The winter solstice actually ends way before this. Approximately 1,700 years ago, the occurrence of Uttarayana and Makar Sankranti coincided, which led to their longstanding association. However, due to the precession of Earth’s axis, amounting to roughly one degree every 72 years (or 50 seconds of time per year), the two events have gradually diverged. Today, 14th or 15th January is marked for this day. After 9000 years, Makara Sankranti will be in June. While, in 272 CE, Makara Sankranti was on 21 December, and in 1000 CE, it was on 31 December.
Every bright phase has a dark phase too, so it is applicable for Uttaryana. Sun’s movements are categorized into two parts, Summer and Winter solstice. While Uttaryana refers to the summer solstice, Dakshiyana is known for the winter one. This day is known as the Karaka Sankranti (the Sun’s entry into Cancer) and start of its journey to the Southern Hemisphere. Together, these two halves create the cosmic balance of the year.
The word Sankranti actually marks sun’s different phases of journey. Sankranti comes every month dedicated to each zodiac in Indian Astrology. Out of which ‘Makar Sankranti’ claims to have the highest place among all. The other Sankranti are usually followed by either some or none. The other Sankranti’s are usually observed by those people who have tremendous belief in Indian astrology or the ones who are born on with that specific zodiac.
This day not only managed to get a place in India, but also in the parts of Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, etc. One of the possible reasons is due to the trade route linked in water during those era. The trade routes, merchants and travelers not only managed to carry commodities but also festivals and cultures with them.
Today, Makar Sankranti still holds an important place in every Indian household. This festival gives a deep message that nothing stays permanent in life, and no matter how harsh the winter or how difficult the phase, the sun will always begin its upward journey again.
By: Diksha Mukherjee Agarwal
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