Makara Sankranthi January 14, 2009
Jai Karunamayi!
Makara Sankranti is the auspicious Sacred North time when the Sun leaves Dhanu Rasi (the zodiac sign of Sagittarius) and enters Makara Rasi (Capricorn zodiac sign). This time is marked by the important occasion of the Makara Sankranti festival. In Sanskrit language, the prefix “sam” or “san” means very or greatly. “Kranti” means progress and prosperity. Thus Sankranti means abundance of development. A Sankranti is also a solar celebration honoring the auspicious moment when the majestic Sun God, whose light illumines our world, our souls and our minds, progresses into a new zodiac division. The holy Vedas reveal the astronomy of Sankranti. They distinguish twenty-seven stars (called nakshatras) which guide human life. Each sacred star is said to have four feet by which it moves through the heavenly skies. These four feet also endow each star with four special qualities. When the twenty-seven stars are multiplied by their four feet or qualities, we find 108 holy padas or feet. Those 108 sacred feet have been divided into the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Sun God enters one of these twelve astrological signs each month, passing through the entire zodiac during the course of a year. When the glorious Sun God enters a new astrological sign each month, that date is the Sankranti of that sign of the zodiac. The Makara Sankranti festival is very special. It marks the time of harvest, a time of completions and new beginnings, and it is traditionally considered to be the real New Year’s Day. It also marks the date of the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its lowest or southernmost point in the sky at noon. When the Sun God enters Makara Rasi, the path of the Sun turns north. The solar light begins to increase in the northern hemisphere of Mother Earth, and the days grow longer in this region as it receives more light. That is why it is called the auspicious Sacred North time. Similarly, when the Sun enters Karkataka Rasi or the Cancer zodiac sign, the path of the Sun changes and begins to move in the southern direction. This is called the Sacred South time. The northern and southern paths of the Sun each last for a six-month period, thus completing the full cycle of the Sun’s orbit in twelve months or one solar year. The great hero of the Maha Bharata, grand father Bhishma, was mortally wounded during the great war, but it happened during dakshinayana or the Sacred South cycle of the Sun, which is considered an inauspicious time to leave the body. He had a bed of arrows prepared and laid his stricken frame on it to await the arrival of the Sacred North time and assure his victorious death. That date, too, is honored and celebrated even today. So sacred is the day and the exact time when the Sun enters Makara Rasi. The great, important and holy time of Makara Sankramanam (the moment the sun enters Makara Rasi) is celebrated in the Makara Sankranti festival.
Makara Sankranti enters as a queen. The Makara Sankranti festival will not come as a single-day festivity. The day before it is the Bhogi festival, marking the final day of dakshinayana or the Sacred South time. The day following Sankranti is the Kanuma festival. Sankranti comes in between them. How a queen enters, with both of her attendents or maids, one on each side of her, describes the grand arrival of the Makara Sankranti festival.
Bhogi Festival Day On Bhogi people in the villages build great fires in front of their homes and burn their old, unwanted or broken things. This cleans their homes of things that are no longer useful to them. The fire further serves to purify bacteria from the environment naturally and to clear dried grasses, weeds and other pests from the fields. This tradition is part of the lives of the village people who live close to nature. It promotes health and well-being on every level. Spiritually this celebration represents our release of limitations, negativity and unwanted inner elements that hold us back. It is a great festivity accompanied by joy and mirth and it is, as well, a purification to prepare for the new cycle, the new path, the new life and new year. Afterwards, people clean and whitewash their homes, then decorate them with ornamentations of various types. Early in the morning before dawn, the women sweep and wash the ground in front of their houses and adorn Bhuh Devi (Mother Earth) by drawing traditional rangoli designs (similar to mandalas). These ornaments for Mother Earth are intended to invite the paddy (rice) crop safely home from the harvest and also to invite Mother Lakshmi Devi (the goddess of good fortune, light and all the inner and outer wealths) into their homes and their hearts. Drawing rangoli at the front door or in the courtyard of their homes is traditional in any season. The women take flour powder in their hands and draw beautiful designs, first making flour dots on the ground and then joining them with lines, all without using any instruments — no compass, scale, ruler or tape. They create extraordinarily beautiful patterns representative of the myriad beauties of nature. During Makara Sankranti season, these designs are also filled in with brightly colored powders, and a central dot becomes the jewel to complete the design. The dot is created with a round ball of fresh cow dung in which a golden yellow pumpkin flower or Cassia Auriculata flower is placed. Always the people adorn themselves and the special articles around them with kumkum, chandana (sandlewood powder), tumeric and similar fragrant, pure essences. These have many healing properties which clean, clear and cool the body, mind and heart of bacteria, various forms of negativity and excess heat in order to make a suitable place for Divine Mother, Goddess Lakshmi Devi, to come and to stay. These practices integrate their lives in divinity and establish an atmosphere of positivity and continuous renewal. The elaborate rangoli decorated with a central bindu (point) made of cow dung and a sun-colored flower are traditional during the great Makara Sankranti festival days. But the greatest adornment and jewel that we can offer to Mother Divine is our kind, good and gentle words. When we discard all adharmic (unrighteous) thoughts, actions and speech from our life and we vow never to speak a harsh or unkind word, then we are preparing to approach Lakshmi Devi directly to receive her grace and radiant benediction. The rangoli is a big art. The chariot of Surya Bhagavan (the Sun God) is the biggest design. Within it they inscribe butterflies, antelope, different colored flowers, svastika symbols and Lord Ganesha. This art begins one month before the festival and continues throughout the period. It is a joyous and grand display of creativity and devotion. On Bhogi day, the people rejoice and laugh. In the villages of Telugu-speaking people, everyone wakes up early in the morning filled with enthusiasm. They draw the rangoli designs, tie decorative mango leaf garlands over their entrances and erect small banana trees at their gateways. Everywhere they celebrate with golden marigold flowers, the color of the Sun. The women wear different colored saris and dresses. The people beat small drums and cry “bogo-bogi” while lighting bonfires in the streets to burn their old, useless articles. There is joyous competition to see who can make the highest fire. To see those lights, designs and decorations in the early Sankranti morning, the paternal gods and all of your favorite gods will come to bless you. The divine queen of Maha Sankranti comes to witness the designs and decorations of every house and to bless the people with abundance and plenty.
Makara Sankranti Festival Day The Makara Sankranti festival day itself 14 January every year, since it is a solar observance. It is celebrated with great joy and merriment. On Makara Sankranti day when the Sun changes its path to the auspicious north side, the people worship paternal Gods. Makara Sankranti is also a favorable day for worship of all the Gods. Many devotees wait for this day to worship Lord Ganesha. If you worship Lord Ganesha on Makara Sankranti day, you will be bestowed with charms and accomplishments, and all of your wishes will be welcomed by success. The special worship of Sri Ganesha on Makara Sankranti day favors wealth. If you chant the one thousand names of Sri Lalita Devi on Sankranti day you will receive the immense mercy of Sri Lalita Parameswari Devi. In the month of January after the winter season, the people of the villages celebrate Sankranti with special glory and bliss. The tribal people’s pure happiness in our area is extraordinary. Many of the laborers work very hard every day, not taking a single holiday the entire year. Yet on Makara Sankranti they join with their families and friends in many joyous activities. The women beautifully decorate their hair with fresh marigold flowers and dance together rhythmically, singing special songs called “Gobbillu” while clapping their hands in unison. Their tribal songs have melodious rhythms and are very sweet. That is why Lord Narasimha (an incarnation of Maha Vishnu) married a tribal girl named Chenchu Lakshmi and became their son-in-law. Many beautiful sights and scenes you will find in the villages on Makara Sankranti day. Local artisans and musicians are honored for their remarkable crafts and their pure devotions during this holy festival. It is a festival of sharing. Those who give charity, sharing their wealth during this festival, clear the path to receive Lakshmi Devi’s abundant grace throughout the year. During Makara Sankranti day, the Vaishnava mendicants roam about and sing songs in praise of Lord Vishnu. Again and again they call out “Krishnarpanam”, “I surrender everything to my Supreme Lord Krishna,” for the small alms presented to them. You give them just a handful of rice, and in return they are making you hear the divine name of God repeatedly. Just think, which is superior? Do not send them back with empty hands by giving them small alms. Receive their blessing in the divine name of Lord Krishna! What other holy festivities will be discovered illumining the villages on Makara Sankranti? Bulls that have been consecrated in the temples will be auctioned to the poor people, who will teach their animal some tricks, like bowing its head or raising its leg. Coming out only on this day, once in a year, the beggars exhibit their bulls and have their animals perform. You can give them some old clothes. They will bless your children. A class of Saivites is also coming out on that day. A person who rhythmically plays a small drum resembling Lord Shiva’s dhamaru, making a small sound like “budak-budak”, will come on that day. A separate tribal group called Komma Dasaralu is present on that day. These people are another special type of Vaishnava mendicants that sing local songs to Lord Vishnu. Another band of singers that beats drums and dances in ecstasy is very exciting to see. With their own hands, the people will make decorative headdresses to Lakshmi-Narayana, Sri Rama and Sri Sita, Parvati and Parameswara, showing their skills. There is a separate caste of people that lives by catching birds also visiting. People wearing costumes and funny attire are performing various entertainments for our enjoyment. A small girl will be climbing a pole and balancing on a rope, using a long staff. On this day, we will find tiger-dressed entertainers, light and shade silhouette entertainers, clarinet and drum musicians. These attractions will not come every day. All of these village artisans will come once in a year only. They will exhibit their art and skills on these days to receive alms happily presented by you. We should not send them back with empty hands. We can share with them whatever we have. It is equal to worshiping Sarasvati, the goddess of art, music, speech, learning and all that is refined and noble. You may be respecting and honoring some famed musicians and artists as the embodiment of Sri Sarasvati Devi. Those famous artists bring honor to the nation. But these local artisans bring beauty to its villages. They live miserably, below the poverty line. Yet they exhibit their skills freely and entertain you. If you give them just ten rupees or an old cloth, they will abundantly bless you. Helping the poor artisans makes you happy and brings immense inner satisfaction. The scriptures advise us to wash away all of our heinous misdeeds and offenses, which hinder our spiritual growth, by giving alms and donations. To be freed from the sins of fate, to avoid poverty and lack of peace, one has to engage mainly in charitable activities. Those souls who donate within their capacity on holy Makara Sankranti day will be relieved of the eight poverties that have haunted them for many lives. There are few people who are more devoted, with such enthusiam that is beyond our imagination. These villagers’ minds are always pure, because they work with nature. Inside a big, opulent palace, the owners may hang costly golden chandeliers and install many elaborate, exquisite interior decorations. But inside themselves they are very unhappy and mentally depressed, because of multiple problems. They are suspicious of one another and have no love between them. Where is the happiness in such a building? But in the villages, the poor people wearing new dresses on festival day, tying charming anklets with small bells to their feet to perform the maypole dance, singing worship songs to Lord Panduranga and Sri Rama with all their hearts — they are brimming with exhilarating joy higher than ocean waves. Kanuma Festival Day Makara Sankranti is not only a time of sharing and celebration. This festival also honors agriculture and farming, including the cultivation of land to grow crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool and other products. Without farming, we would not have any food. This holiday blesses agricultural progress. It marks the harvest time when the crops, which have been cultivated with great toil and at great expense, are to be received at the home. Kanuma itself is the festival day of the farmers who contribute food to all humankind. Their enthusiasm is extraordinary. They always do earth work. On the three Makara Sankranti festival days, they wear new clothes and enjoy merrily. On the Kanuma festival day, they decorate their plows and bullocks. They worship their cows and bulls, showing gratitude for their service. In agricultural work, cows and bulls are very helpful. Those who do not do cultivation do not realize this. The labor of the bulls is a service that cannot be repaid. These hard-working animals are specially trained to pull the plows. They toil, carrying heavy yokes on their necks, to plow the fields and clear the weeds, to carry many loads to the home, to transport humans to buses and trains. They bring the closed paddy (rice) bags to the farmer’s house, working very hard to pull the overloaded bullock carts to satisfy their owner. Bulls are a supreme symbol of hard work and selfless service. The service of the cows is no less valuable and powerful to benefit our human family. For our family and children, we use a lot of milk to make curd, butter and ghee. We need milk to prepare milk rice and curd rice for offering to God. We need milk to make different kinds of dishes with rice flour and to prepare a variety of milk sweets, such as milk pad (condensed milk with sugar), basundi (a delicious sweet made with milk), milk porridge, badam (almond) milk and so forth. We need butter and ghee for making numerous other sweet and savory dishes. People customarily offer a large glass of tasty buttermilk to whomever comes to their courtyard. The cows and bulls are our faithful servants. They labor for us without complaint. They watch Sankranti happiness in the eyes of their master and mistress and express their gentle feelings through their behavior.
Sri Savitri Gauri Vratam Festival Day After these three days of Makara Sankranti festivities, Sri Savitri Gauri Vratam takes place on the fourth day. Thus Makara Sankranti culminates in worship of the Divine Mother, Gauri Devi. Beginning on this day, some people worship Devi (the Goddess) for nine days with different rice flour dishes. They call all of their relatives to share and rejoice together. This is a time of celebration with one’s people in the homes.
Several Makara Sankranti traditions are imitated or staged in the cities to honor the spirit of the festival and to ignite and nourish the light and joy to the people’s hearts. For instance, bonfires may be lit in the city intersections on Bhogi day, and artisans may display their crafts and talents on Sankranti. Friends will gather to pray and worship, sing, share special foods and to inaugurate the Sacred North time in togetherness. Yet, to witness the eminence and luster of this glorious festival at its fullest, the villages are the best, for here the people have an intimate and affectionate relationship with Mother Earth, Father Sun and all of nature. This festival is part of their inner tuning with life. It is a time of immense celebration. The people may be very simple, innocent, very poor in a material sense. But in the temple of their hearts, they possess tremendous hidden wealth and oceans of devotion. Is there any treasure greater or strength more powerful than happiness? May all of you not to lose happiness, not to be engulfed by sadness. There are still hearts full of happiness, purity and joy as beautiful as rainbows in this world. You can hear their clear laughter and see their happiness in villages only. May this Makara Sankranti festival inspire the light of kindness, sharing, compassion and pure joy within your heart temple. May Divine Mother’s blessings always shine within you.
Om Peace
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