Makar Sankranti - Pongal
India is a land of many festivals where pious people relish all religious days, and one of the auspicious occasions for all is Makar Sankranti, celebrated in all parts of India . Makat 'Sankaranti' was celebrated today on 15.01.2012 .
Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival . According to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn or from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana, in the month of Poush in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest season and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The movement of the earth from one zodiac sign into another is called Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the Indian context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year but this year it occured on 15th Jan.
In Tamil Nadu, New Year begins from the date of 'Sankrat'. Different cultural people enunciate various names of 'Sankranthi'.It is 'Thai Pongal' for South Indian, 'Uttarayan' for Gujartis , 'Makar Sankranti' or 'Til Sankrant' for Norther Indians and 'Tirmauri' for Sindhis.
