Why is the festival of Makar Sankranti celebrated? Essay Significance, Worship Method Makar Sankranti 2022 Date, Story, Puja Vidhi

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Why is the festival of Makar Sankranti celebrated, 2022 Significance, Story and Worship Method (Makar Sankranti Date, Significance, Story, Puja Vidhi in Hindi)

More than 2000 festivals are celebrated every year in India. Behind all these festivals, there is not only tradition or customary things, behind every festival is hidden all the things related to knowledge, science, nature, health and Ayurveda. Taking Makar Sankranti, a festival celebrated by Hindus on 14 or 15 January every year, it is celebrated in the month of Paush when the Sun enters Capricorn. Although Sankranti comes 12 times in a year in every zodiac, its entry in Capricorn and Cancer has special significance. Due to the increasing speed with which the day becomes longer and the night becomes shorter due to the entry of the Sun in Capricorn. Whereas with the entry of the Sun in Cancer, the night becomes longer and the day becomes shorter.

Story and Story of Makar Sankranti

According to Hindu mythology, on this special day, Lord Surya goes to his son Lord Shani, at that time Lord Shani is representing Capricorn. To celebrate the healthy relationship between father and son, despite differences, Makar Sankranti was given importance. It is believed that when a father visits his son on this special day, his conflicts get resolved and positivity gets shared with happiness and prosperity. Apart from this, there is another story of this special day, which is related to the life of Bhishma Pitamah, who had got this boon, that he would get death by his will. While he was lying on the decoration of arrows, he was waiting for the day of Uttarayan and on this day he closed his eyes and thus he attained salvation on this particular day. 

Why is the festival of Makar Sankranti celebrated, its importance (Makar Sankranti Significance)

Makar Sankranti is very important for the farmers, on this day all the farmers harvest their crops. Makar Sankranti is the only festival of India which is celebrated on 14th or 15th January every year. This is the day when the sun moves towards the north. For Hindus, the sun is a symbol of light, strength and knowledge. Makar Sankranti festival inspires everyone to move from darkness to light. Symbolizes starting work in a new way. On the day of Makar Sankranti, from sunrise to sunset, the environment is more conscious, that is, there is divine awareness in the environment, so those who are doing spiritual practice can take advantage of this consciousness.

Makar Sankranti Festival मनाने के पीछे क्या वैज्ञानिक कारण है? Video :

Makar Sankranti Puja Vidhi

Those who observe this special day, they worship Makar Sankranti in their homes. The worship method for this day is shown below-

• First of all, before starting the worship, take out the Punya Kaal Muhurta and the Maha Punya Kaal Muhurta, and clean and purify your place of worship. By the way, this worship is done for Lord Surya, so this worship is dedicated to him.
• After this, 4 black and 4 white matchstick laddoos are kept in a plate. Along with this, some money is also kept in the plate.
• After this, the next ingredients in the plate are rice flour and turmeric mixture, betel nut, betel leaves, net net, flowers and incense sticks.
• After this, a plate of black and white matchsticks, some money and sweets are offered to the Lord for the offerings of the Lord.
• After offering this prasad to Lord Sun, his aarti is performed.
• Women keep their heads covered during the puja.
• After this the Surya Mantra ‘Om Haram Hreem Hraum Saha Suryay Namah’ is recited at least 21 or 108 times.

Some devotees also wear or start wearing 12 Mukhi Rudraksha during the worship on this day. Ruby Gemstone is also celebrated on this day.

Makar Sankranti 2022 Date and timing

Makar Sankranti is celebrated every year on 14 or 15 January. This year Makar Sankranti will be celebrated on January 14.

• The auspicious time for Punya Kaal is between 02:43 PM to 05:45 PM, which is a total of 3 hours and 02 minutes.
• Apart from this, the auspicious time of Maha Punya Kaal is between 02:43 pm to 04:28 pm, which is for a total of 1 hour 45 minutes.

Benefits of Makar Sankranti Puja

• This increases the consciousness and cosmic intelligence to many levels, so you can get the benefits of higher consciousness while worshiping it.
• Spiritual spirit enhances the body and purifies it.
• Successful results are obtained in the works done during this period.
• This is a religious time to spread religion and spirituality in the society.

How to celebrate Makar Sankranti

In the auspicious time of Makar Sankranti, bathing, charity and charity have special significance. On this day people bathe in a holy river by applying jaggery and sesame seeds. After this, after offering water to Lord Surya, he is worshipped and prayed to him for his good future. After this jaggery, sesame, blanket, fruits etc. are donated. On this day kites are also flown at many places. Along with this, dishes made from matchsticks are consumed on this day. On this day, people make khichdi and offer it to Lord Suryadev, and khichdi is specially donated. Due to which this festival is also known as Khichdi. Apart from this, this day is celebrated in different cities in different ways. Crops are also harvested by the farmers on this day.

Makar Sankranti in Different Parts of India

In India, Makar Sankranti is celebrated with great enthusiasm in every province. But it is celebrated in different places with different names and traditions.

• Uttar Pradesh : In Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar, it is called the festival of Khichdi. Taking a dip in the holy rivers on this day is considered very auspicious. On this occasion a big one month long Magh Mela  starts in Prayag i.e. Allahabad. Apart from Triveni, there are also religious baths at many places like Haridwar and Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh and Patna in Bihar. 
• West Bengal : Every year in Bengal a very big fair is organized in Ganga Sagar. Where it is believed that the keep of sixty thousand ancestors of King Bhagirath was abandoned and the area below was dipped in the river Ganges. A large number of pilgrims from all over the country participate in this fair.
• Tamil Nadu : In Tamil Nadu it is celebrated as Pongal festival , which is celebrated to mark the beginning of the harvest day of the farmers.
• Andhra Pradesh : In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is known as Makar Sankramama. Which is celebrated here for 3 days as Pongal. This is a big event for the people of Andhra Pradesh. Telugu call it ‘Penda Panduga’ which means big festival.
• Gujarat : It is celebrated in Gujarat and Rajasthan by the name Uttarayan. On this day a kite flying competition is held in Gujarat , in which all the people there participate enthusiastically. This is a very big festival in Gujarat. During this there is also a national holiday of 2 days.
• Bundelkhand : In Bundelkhand, especially in Madhya Pradesh, the festival of Makar Sankranti is known as Sakrat. This festival is celebrated with great pomp with sweets in Madhya Pradesh as well as in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Sikkim.
• Maharashtra : On the day of Sankranti, dishes made of til and jaggery are exchanged in Maharashtra, people say “til-gul ghya, god god bola” to each other while giving til ladoos. It is a special day for women in Maharashtra. When married women invite guests under the name “Turmeric Kumkum” and give them some utensils as an offering.
• Kerala : On this day people observe 40 days of rituals as a big festival in Kerala, which ends at Sabarimala .
• Orissa : Many tribals in our country start their new year on the day of Sankranti. Everyone dances and eats together. The Bhuya tribesmen of Orissa include their Magh Yatra, in which items made in homes are put up for sale.
• Haryana : It is celebrated in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh under the name Magahi.
• Punjab : It is celebrated in Punjab by the name Lohri , which holds great importance for all Punjabis, from this day all the farmers start harvesting their crops and worship it.
• Assam : Magh Bihu is celebrated in the village of Assam.
• Kashmir : In Kashmir, it is known as Shishur Sankrant.

Makar Sankranti Festival in Abroad Names of Festivals of Makar Sankranti Abroad

Apart from India, Makar Sankranti is also popular in other countries but there it is known by some other name.

• In Nepal it is called Maghe Sankranti. It is also known as Magahi in some parts of Nepal.
• In Thailand, it is celebrated as Songkran.
• Known as Thingyaan in Myanmar.
• In Cambodia, it is celebrated by the name Moha Sankran.
• Ulavar is known as Thirunal in Sri Lanka.
• Known in Laos by the name Pi Ma Lao.

Even though Makar Sankranti is celebrated in different names in the world, the hidden feeling behind it is the same, peace and peace. Everyone celebrates it as the festival of light from the darkness.

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