Makara Sankranti

Religious festival that falls on the day the
sun makes the transition (sankranti)
into the zodiacal sign of Capricorn
(makara). According to Western astrology, this occurs around December 20,
but in Indian astrology (jyotisha), this
occurs on January 14. This is one of the
few celebrations in the festival year
marked by the solar rather than the
lunar calendar. On Makara Sankranti,
the sun is reckoned as beginning its
“northward journey” (uttarayana). This
will continue until Karka Sankranti six
months later, when the sun enters
Cancer, and begins its “southward journey” (dakshinayana). Since the uttarayana
is believed to be more auspicious than
its counterpart, the day marking this
transition is deemed particularly auspicious. Makara Sankranti is primarily
a bathing (snana) festival; great numbers of people come to bathe in rivers
on that day, especially the Ganges. The
largest bathing festival on the Ganges
is at Sagar Island in state of West
Bengal (also known as Ganga Sagar),
celebrated as the place where the
Ganges empties into the sea at the Bay
of Bengal.