Makar Sankranti or Maghi, is a festival day dedicated to the Sun God Surya. This festival is celebrated on 14th or 15th January every year. This festival marks the beginning of winter. People take a holy dip in rivers, especially Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. Bathing is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. They also pray to the sun and thank the sun for their successes and prosperity.This festival is celebrated differently in different parts of India.

Maharashtra

In Maharashtra on Makar Sankranti people exchange til-gul ladoo "?????? ????, ??? ???-??? ???? / til-gul ghyaa, aani goad-goad bola" meaning ‘Accept this til-gul (sweet) and utter sweet words’. The underlying thought in the exchange of til-gul is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends.Married women invite friends/family members and celebrate Haldi-Kunku. Guests are given til-gul and some small gift, as a part of the ritual. Women make it a point to wear black clothes. As Sakranti falls in the winter season, wearing black adds to the body warmth. This is an essential reason behind wearing black, which is otherwise barred on festival days.

Tamil Nadu

On this day In Tamil Nadu People celebrate Pongal. On this day people discard old belongings and buy new clothes and things. The people assemble and light a bonfire in order to burn the heaps of discards. Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated to give a festive look.The festival's most significant practice is the preparation of the traditional "pongal" dish. It utilizes freshly harvested rice, and is prepared by boiling it in milk and jaggery. Another version of Pongal is the savoury version.

Gujarat

Makar Sankranti in Gujarat is called Uttarayan and is a major festival in the state of Gujarat which lasts for two days.Gujarati people keenly await this festival to fly kites. Kites for Uttarayan are made of special light-weight paper and bamboo and are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow. The string often contains abrasives to cut down other people's kites.In Gujarat, from December through to Makar Sankranti, people start enjoying Uttarayan. Undhiyu (spicy, baked mix of winter vegetables) and chikkis (made from til (sesame seeds), peanuts and jaggery) are the special festival recipes savoured on this day. In the major cities of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Jamnagar the skies appear filled with thousands upon thousands of kites as people enjoy two full days of Uttarayan on their terraces. When people cut any kites they yell words like "kaypo chhe", "e lapet","jaay jaay","phirki vet phirki" and "lapet lapet" in Gujarati.All over India people celebrate this festival differently. I hope you enjoy the day with peace and happinness.

Tags

• Makar Sankranthi
• Pongal
• Uttarayan

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