Story is all about the significance of Makar Sankranthi in India. It is the short and sweet conversation of son and his grandma where grandma explains the importance of auspicious Makar sankranthi festival from the puranas to the scientific reason of flying kites.

 

 

As a child, I could only remember this day as the day when I had a holiday at school and enjoy flying kites with no worries of getting scolded. Various sweets are made and distributed among the near and dear ones. Most of the sweets are teel barfi, teel laddoos, peanut barfi and much more.

Now, when I am 18, I was thinking,” what makes Makar Sankranthi so much famous festivals that our Indian system cherishes with great entertainment?”

I asked my Grandma about it.

She said,” Makar Sankranthi is one of the famous festivals that our Indians’ cherish with great fun. Makar Sankranthi represents the end of winter.

It is considered auspicious by people of all states in India is Makar Sankranthi. Makar Sankranthi is the harvest festival which brings happiness to farmers. Farmers are ready to harvest their long awaited efforts. Makar Sankranthi also marks the end of winter season.”

I asked,” Dadi, Why it is known as Makar Sankranthi?”

Dadi was sitting on her favorite chair.

She took my hand and made me sit down nearby and started explaining keenly.

She said,” ‘Makara’ means Capricorn which is a zodiac sign and ‘Sankranthi’ means sun’s movement (Uttharaayan) from one sign to another. So if we club it together, it means sun’s movement towards Capricorn.”

I asked again,” I have observed that the date of this festival remains same each year, unlike other festivals. Is this not related to our lunar positions?”

She said,” The traditional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions but Sankranthi is a solar event. Dates of all Hindu festivals keep changing as per the Gregorian calendar, the date of Makar Sankranti remains almost same, every year on 14 January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated as per the Hindu calendar month of Magha.”

It was getting excited to explore the significance of this day, noticing this Dadi elaborated it more.

She said,” After this, the day starts becoming longer and warmer and thus the chill of winter declines.

The festival of Makar Sankranti is associated with much cultural significance:

• The Puranas state that on this day Sun visits the house of his son Shani, who is the swami of Makar Rashi. This day symbolizes the healthy and lovely relationship of father and son.
• It was on this day when Lord Vishnu ended the ever increasing terror of the Asuras by finishing them off and burying their heads under the Mandara Parvata (Mountain). Thus, this occasion also represents the end of negativities and beginning of an era of righteous living.
• It was this auspicious day, most awaited by Bhishma Pitamah lying on the beds of arrows, who was blessed with a special boon of choosing his own death time. It is believed, whoever dies during this period achieves salvation.Taking a holy dip on the day is also considered to cleanse sins committed and this will lead to Moksha (Salvation).

Apart from these, it is a religious belief that Makar Sankranthi is beginning of the holy phase. Good things start to happen after Makar Sankranthi.

This auspicious festival is observed in a different name with little differences in rituals and customs in the states of India.

In Tamil Nadu as “Pongal”,  Kerala as “End of Sabarimala Pilgrimage”, Allahabad as “Khumba Mela”, Gujarat and Rajasthan as “Uttarayan”, Assam as “Bohali Bihu”, Karnataka as” Sankranthi”, Orissa as” Makar Mela” and many more.”

I asked,” Then what is the significance of flying kites?”

She smiled and answered, “The festival spirit is showcased by flying the kites as high as possible. The real excitement lies in cutting in the kites of others.

The more you cut the kites the more is the gain for you in the coming year. Anyhow the cutting is for fun but never means a bad competition. The scientific reason is, during the Season of Cold, Human body suffers and sometime gets infected with some disease like cough and cold and the dry Skin during. When Sun moves From Dakshin Ayan to the Uttarayana, the rays of sun play the role of medicine for the human body during winter.”

After knowing all this, I was excited to share this with my friends as I sure that even they won’t know this much information about the auspicious festival, “Makar Sankranthi”. I took blessing by offering Teel gud to dadi and ran out excitingly to share my gained information saying loudly,”Teel Gud Ghiya, Guod guod bola.”