Makara Sankranti

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The word Sankranti indicates the movement of the Sun from one sign to another.  Thus there are 12 sankrantis every year.   The Makara Sankranti is celebrated on the occasion of the movement of the Sun into the zodiac sign of Makara or Capricorn.  It also coincides with the beginning of the Northward movement of the sun for those that live in the northern hemisphere.  The angle of sunlight is tilted northward for 6 months in a year beginning on the day of Sankranti.  This 6 month period is called Uttaraayana [Uttara ayana – northward movement].  The second six months of course is called by the contrary name of Dakshina ayana, or southwardly movement.  North is the direction of movement towards natural expression, flowering and indeed even enlightenment.  Even the seasons follow this.  Out of the four seasons, the Uttaraayana consists of the waning half of winter, the full spring season and the first half of summer.  The Dakshinaayana consists of the waning half of summer, the full fall and the first half of winter.  Of course, for those that live in the southern hemisphere the reverse is true.  For those in Australia therefore, the Karkataka Sankranthi which begins around July 14 is more significant - when the sun transitions into the zodiac sign of cancer heralds the sunny half of the year!

The Uttaraayana is also said to be the day time of the devas and the Dakshinaayana is their night time.  During Uttaraayana your faculties are sharper, your body is healthier; and therefore you must use them in Uttaraayana to celebrate auspicious events, to start new ventures and to do all the things that make you bright.  You must sleep a little less during these 6 months, work a little more, get up before sunrise, attend to your work with great enthusiasm and achieve worldly prosperity.  During the Dakshinaayana of course, the seasons also indicate that it is windy and rainy outside, the leaves are falling off the plants and it gets colder and colder as you go; and it is natural that you sleep a little longer and achieve a little less, ponder a lot more about life and its vagaries and develop inner spiritual strength and direction for your energetic work in the Uttaraayana. 

During Sankranti, we celebrate by sharing prosperity and get rid of any accumulated negatives and guilt.  It is a time to wash off the negatives from the last year and begin afresh with love, energy and enthusiasm for all of life.  We distribute ellu or sesame seeds during Sankranti.  These seeds have the property of carrying your negative vibrations.  If we have to swallow our own negatives, it will be very difficult.  However, if you share your problem with another, he or she can see it objectively and solve it in an easy and friendly manner.   For him after all, it is external.  He doesn’t get affected by it.  This is why we give ellu to others during sankranti.  If we just give ellu, it will upset one’s stomach.  Therefore it is balanced with dried copra, fried groundnut and cubes of jaggery which together make a delicious combination that doesn’t upset one’s stomach.  By sharing this, we rid our friends of their negatives by dissolving them in our objectivity and the same thing happens to us also.  Isn’t this a wonderful way of sharing health and joy and diminishing our sorrows? 

This period is also very suitable for surrendering your Ego.  Normally our work in the world feeds the growth of our external identity called the Ego.  Our pure identity is that of the pure and universal Being who is the in-dweller of the entire universe.  Remembering that it is He alone who exists, creates and destroys this manifest universe, we surrender our individual ego and pray to Him to show us the right path.  With this surrender and acceptance of His guidance may your Uttaraayana be filled with health, prosperity and auspiciousness!