Sankranthi is a festival that signifies the beginning of the harvest season for the farmers of Indian Sub-Continent. This is a harvest festival celebrated not only all over India but other South East Asian Countries as well (technical definition).
Sankranthi is called Makara Sankranthi in North India where Samkramana means to ‘commence movement’. Sankranthi is the Sanskrit word for transition. It is about the transition of sun into Capricorn on its celestial path. Sankranthi is celebrated in Mid January where the harvest seasons starts. Since most of the people in North India are farmers it is very important for them. Because this is the time of the year when harvesting starts.
On this occasion sugarcane, rice, sesame seeds and jaggery play an important role. Sugarcane is one of the most important and auspicious fruit that is offered to the gods. The days start with praying god to keep the season uniform throughout which would help in good harvest. On this day the brothers gives their married sisters gifts as the way to represent their love towards them.
Many varieties of sweets are prepared and distributed to everyone. Especially sesame seeds mixed with small chunks of sugar is distributed to everyone that come to your house and you know of, which would not be received by anyone otherwise because the people in North are very superstitious about it.
This day food is offered to the higher caste of Brahmans as a token to get their blessing. Mostly everybody is dressed in yellow which is considered to be an auspicious color and represents happiness. This day a big bunch of sugarcane tress are tied together to look like a tent and worshipped. This day mostly grains are a big part of alms that you offer to the poor. Many places in north India Khichdi is considered to be a very important dish along with many other dishes around. Khichdi is prepared by steaming rice and urad dal mixed with turmeric, salt, asafetida and water on a slow flame especially on the chulha (a clay representation of gas on which food is cooked by burning wood, hay etc).
On this day Goddess Saraswathi – the goddess of knowledge is also prayed to because she is the one who took part in absorbing the teaching of Gita in mind and was able to teach everybody and reached a highest level of purity and thus she represents knowledge, peace and purity. Mostly all the festivals in India are related to each other someway or the other and all the festivals includes preparation and distribution of sweets. This represents that since we are happy and feeling sweetness in life we want everybody around us to experience the same and the best way to do so is by distributing sweets. By eating the taste buds in the mouth feel good and somewhere even our brain starts relating to it and starts feeling the sweetness and happiness around.
Makara Sankranthi also represents two cycles of representing life one which is the first half representing the Rama Rajya, the heaven paradise and the other half representing Ravan Rajya the hell paradise. The First half of our life representing the Rama Rajya are the days of childhood and the other half is the adult hood full of struggle, misery, pain and everybody in vain. This is the significance of Makara Sankranthi in my life.
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