Makar Sankranti Essay in Hindi 2016

Makar Sankranti is all about prayers, sweets, and kites. Festival of Makar Sankranti is celebrated with great zest in all parts of India. On the day of Makar Sankranti, The sun starts its journey to the Northern Hemisphere. Speaking from astrological perspective, the sun enters Makar rashi (Capricorn, the sun sign). Devotees take dips in the holy water and offer prayers to the sun.

Makar Sankranti is a blissful festival celebrated by Hindus. All enthusiasts step out of their houses and enjoy flying kites. Colourful kites fill the sky on the auspicious day of Sankranti. The significance of Makar Sankranti is greater in Maharashtra. People send greeting cards to their friends and relatives. The day is started by offering prayers to various deities. People visit temples to bow their heads in front of supreme power.

Makar Sankranti

In Maharashtrian households Tilguls are the attraction of the Makar Sankranti. Tilguls are laadoos made of til (sesame seeds) and gul (jaggry). People greet each other Happy Sankranti by saying Tilgul Ghya Aani God God Bola (Take the sweets and talk sweet words). Distributing sweets amongst your loved ones signify your love and affection towards them. Makar Sankranti is all about forgetting bitter moments in the past by giving sweets.

Pongal

In South India Sankranti is celebrated as Pongal. Pongal is the festival of harvest. This is three days long festival and it is celebrated in the month January. Pongal is a sweet rice dish that is prepared on the occasion of Pongal. On the first day Pongal and prayers are offered to Bhogi for providing rain for the harvest. On the second day Pongal is offered to the sun. Devotees also offer water and flowers to the sun and they pray for spiritual growth and prosperity. On the third day Pongal is offered to cattle in the house.

Lohri

Lohri is the grand festival in Punjab. It is celebrate one day before Sankranti. On the chilly night of January 13, relatives and friends in the house gather around the bonfire to enjoy themselves. People wear traditional and colourful outfits on this cheerful occasion. Food and dance are the attraction of the Lohri celebration. People do Bhangra, The popular Punjabi dance and sing Punjabi songs. Sarson ka saag and makki ki roti is usually served as the main course at a Lohri dinner. Sankranti, the next day of Lohri is celebrated as Maghi in Punjab.

Wish your loved ones by sending them Makar Sankranti e-cards with a personalised message on it. Being one of the important festivals amongst all Hindu festivals, Makar Sankranti is a splendid celebration. Hope this Makar Sankranti brings happiness and prosperity in your lives. Wish you a happy Makar Sankranti.

The colourful kite-flying festival of Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan, which falls on January 14 each year, marks the end of a long winter and the return of the sun to the northern hemisphere. Hence the name Uttarayan.

According to Hindu astronomy, it is on this holiest day in the Hindu calendar, that the sun enters the zodiac of Makara or Capricorn, heralding the northern journey of the sun. The day is also of special significance, because on this day, the day and night are of equal hours.

Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti [Illustrations by Kusum Chamoli]

Celebrated since time immemorial, among Hindus all over India, the day finds a mention even in the epic Mahabharata. We are told that the warrior hero Bhishma Pitamah, even on being fatally wounded and lying on a bed of arrows, lingered on till Uttarayan set in, to breathe his last.

It is believed that the person who dies on his auspicious day escapes the cycle of birth and rebirth and that the soul mingles with the almighty.

Makar Sankranti heralds the arrival of spring, the season of fruitfulness and plenty. And nothing signifies this better than the soft seeds of til or sesame. Across India, housewives prepare sweetmeats made from til – whether it is a basic mixture of til and jaggery, or laddus, or the famous til-poli of Maharashtra. In the southern part of India, the day is celebrated as Pongal, where a fullsome meal of lentils and rice liberally dashed with ghee is offered to gods, and then to family members.

In the northern states, like Punjab, the festival is celebrated as Lohri, where the end of a bitter winter is marked with the burning of huge bonfires liberally fed with handfuls of til sweets, rice and sugarcane. In Uttar Pradesh, the festival is called Khichedi and a typical rice and lentil preparation (called Khichdi), with the mandatory dash of ghee, is offered not just to the Gods, but is also distributed among the poor.

Interestingly, this is a time of celebration for Muslims too. Just out of the month-long fasts of Ramzan, Muslims celebrate the festival of Id just a few days prior to Makar Sankranti. Prayers and hectic preparation of food and the famous seviyan, or vermicelli pudding cooked in milk mark the day which is a time to eat the best and wear the brightest. Its a time of plenty, and a time to give, especially to those who are needy.

The most colourful celebration of Makar Sankranti can be seen in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Colourful kites dot the skies as each one attempts to outdo the other. As the sun sets, children and adults desperate to extend the day, add floating oil lanterns to the tails of their kites – a sight that brings to life the true meaning of the day: a return to light, to warmth, to the life-giving sun.

A famous Sanskrit Shloka that expresses it best reads:

Asato maa sadgamaya Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya Mrityoormaa amritam gamaya

Lead me, O Lord, from untruth to Truth from darkness to Light and from death to Immortality.