Detailed Information about Makar Sankranti Festival & Its Importance

Makar Sankranti can be considered as one of the unique festival of India. It is one and the only festival that falls on the same day every year. The festival falls on the 14 of January almost every with few exceptional cases of leap year and so on but does not change much. In case of changes it may fall on the 13 or 15 but most of the year it falls on the 14 of January. Unlike any other this harvest festival of Makar Sankranti have uniqueness in one way or other and perhaps it's the only Indian festival whose date of celebration often falls on the same day and so the Hindus considered it as a sacred festival.

Makar Sankrati Festival is an important festival for Hindus. In India the festival is celebrated almost in all parts of the country in different myriad cultural forms. The Hindus considered the day as the glorious day because they believe that the raising of the sun towards the northern hemisphere signifies the sun God is going higher telling their children Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya which in literal means may you go higher and higher to more brighter site and never to darkness. Hindu believes this fact and they keep this day more spiritual and holy offering prayers and thanksgiving. For Hindus, Sun is the symbol of wisdom, knowledge and spiritual light.

Thus Makar Sankranti is the festival of reminder that we should never turn back and be sorrowful of our past but we should be strong and turn away from the evil and darkness to light and make life cheerful and meaningful always despite of the many facts that pull us down.

It is a festival kept before the beginning of the long six month Uttarayana punyakalam asking the Sun god to give them grace, courage and inspire them. This auspicious day is kept as a day for repentance, prayer and sacrifices for many of the devotees.

According to legend Sankranti is considered a Deity (the female deity) and it is her victory over the demon Sankarasur that the festival was celebrated. In India during this festival people go and dip into the holy rivers like Yamuna, Godavari, Krushna and Kaveri to clean away their sins. Bathing in the holy rivers, offering fruits in the temples, exchanging gifts, sharing meals and sweet eatables are the common method of celebration in India for this feast.

In many of the states of India, this holy and spiritual celebration goes with making offering and prayers near the bank of rivers. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, are some of the state are the major highlighted place where this celebration are always celebrate with great enthusiasm and with great spirit. Besides the above mention sites this harvest festival of Makar Sankrati is also active in some parts of Assam, Tribal areas of Orissa and in few coastal region.