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In
small-town India however~the first major festival in the month of
January is Makar Sankranti, Lohri or PongaL According to the lunar
calendar, the sun transits from the Tropic of Cancer into the Tropic
of Capricorn from Dakshinayana into Uttarayana in the month Poush
in mid-January. The sun thus begins to face the northern hemisphere
of the earth.
Since this is a geophysical event, it is the only Hindu festival
which falls regularly on the 14th of January every year. In the
north, this festival is called Lohri and is celebrated by distributing
sugarcane juice, new jaggery and sweets made from peanuts and sesame
(til). These sweets are intrinsic to this festival because the ingredients
are believed to be heat-producing and keep the body warm in the
winter cold. Traditional shapes and flavours of sesame sweets are
made. To share the joy of Lohri, these sweets are sent to neighbours,
family and friends "In Gujarat and the other western states, Uttarayana
or the change in the direction of winds at this time of the year,
is marked by thousands of colourful kites which dot the clear blue
sky. Young men vie with each other to win community kite-flying
competitions and then come home to a special winter feast in the
evening. In these states, January is a month for eating newly-sprouted
vegetables, sweets made of milk and fruits of the season.
ln Maharashtra,Karnataka as well as parts of Andhra, Makar Sankranti
is a day of goodwill and friendship. Sesame chikki ladoos and sugardrops
are distributed by everyone as a symbol of the need to be generous
and kind to everyone Women wear new clothes, new glass bangles and
hold get-togethers to share sweets and gifts. A new bride is given
ornaments made of sugardrops and her new relatives are invited to
meet and welcome her at Haldi Kumkum celebration. In rural Maharashtra,
Sankranti brings in feasts when tender Jowar is eaten with salt
and lemon juice, as well as fresh vegetables, guavas, custard apples,
grapes, oranges and other fruits of the season.
In the south, Sankranti becomes Pongal, a harvest festival. Cows
and bulls are decorated and taken in procession around villages.
The first rice of the new harvest is ritually offered to the sun
god and cooked in different ways to symbolise plenty. The food cooked
for such feasts is also offered to the cows on that day. The special
sweets made on this occasion are Sakkami Pongal or rice cooked in
jaggery and Ven Pongal or rice cooked with green gram, nuts and
ghee. The season of Sankranti ends with Ratha Saptami, the seventh
day of the bright half of Magh, when the sun and his golden chariot
are honoured.
n
small-town India however~the first major festival in the month of
January is Makar Sankranti, Lohri or PongaL According to the lunar
calendar, the sun transits from the Tropic of Cancer into the Tropic
of Capricorn from Dakshinayana into Uttarayana in the month Poush
in mid-January. The sun thus begins to face the northern hemisphere
of the earth. 
