Makar Sankranti – Start Of Uttarayana/Auspicious Period

Many festivals are a part of Indian culture. Most of those are observed throughout the country, and Makar Sankranti is among the most important festivals. The festival is known by different names in diverse zones of India.

• The festival has many names such as Uttarayan, Pongal, Maghi, and Sankranti. It’s seen that the same festival is celebrated differently across diverse regions of the country. This emphasizes the distinctive concept of “unity in diversity”.
• Here, it will only be appropriate to diverge a bit from the main subject. The ancient Gurukul system of education in India covered many significant subjects. Astronomy was one of those.
• The Panchang calendar of India originated from this astronomy, based on the lunar cycle. The gurus, sages, and seers of age-old India were well aware. Ascertaining auspicious times is always simpler by observing the Moon. Every Panchang calendar has details specific to ‘Uttarayana’ and ‘Dakshinaya;’ it’s only in ‘Uttarayana’ that all auspicious events take place.
• The Gurukul education placed tremendous importance on the Vedas and the Vedangas. Students had to study these subjects. Disciples in gurukuls would begin studying primary Vedic texts at the start of Uttarayana. The phase commences in January, on the day of Makar Sankranti, and extends till June. Uttarayana was considered more propitious from a spiritual perspective for learning holy texts related to the Vedas.
• After that, the phase of Dakshinayana begins in June. This phase is believed to be more conducive to studying subjects like the Vedangas, as well as topics with in-depth philosophical content.
• The great sages knew that when it’s the question of learning by memorization, Uttarayana was the right period. Dakshinayana was the appropriate period for learning subjects that required deep analysis by students. The teaching regimen was divided accordingly.
• At a time when intellectuals like Galelio were subjected to persecution in other countries, Indian astronomy had complete awareness of the heliocentric theory of the universe. The Indian astronomers knew that the Earth rotates on its axis and simultaneously revolves around the Sun. They had no doubts even about the Earth’s axial tilt.
• Ancient Indian astronomy was capable of predicting cosmic events like eclipses with total precision. That was the phase when the rest of the World was still distant from science and astronomy. This emphasizes that scientific temperament was promoted in India when the rest of the World still depended on irrational and superstitious beliefs.
• The Indian Panchang calendar is the lunar calendar, and yet, the dates of Sankranti festivals are derived from the solar calendar. The celebration of Sankranti indicates that the Sun changes from a specific zodiac sign to another. Here the Sun transitions to the zodiac sign Capricorn from Sagittarius.
• We have twelve zodiac signs, and thus there are twelve Sankranti festivals each year. For 2025, let us take a few examples. On March 15, we have the Sankranti related to the zodiac sign Pisces. Likewise, the “Aries” Sankranti will be there on April 14th. In the same way, when the sign “Taurus” is taken into account, the corresponding Sankranti falls on May 15th.
• All the dates cannot be covered here due to a shortage of space. Still, it can be observed that each of these Sankranti comes approximately one month after the Sankranti of the preceding zodiac sign.