मकर संक्रांति पूजा विधि

'Sankranti' means a crossing: the Sun moving from one rashi (sign) into the next. There are twelve sankrantis in a year, and a bath and a gift on each is held to bring merit, but Makar Sankranti is the greatest of them. Makara is the sign of Shani (Saturn), and from here the Sun sets out on the six-month course the tradition calls Uttarayana, the northern course from Makara to Mithuna, held to be the day of the gods, while Dakshinayana, from Karka to Dhanu, is their night.

One point is worth understanding gently. Astronomically the Sun's northward course begins at the winter solstice, around 21 or 22 December. Centuries ago that moment and the Sun's entry into Makara fell close together; but because the earth's axis slowly wobbles (precession), the Sun's entry into the star-fixed sign of Makara has slipped about one day later every seventy years or so, and now comes in mid-January. The festival marks the Sun's entry into the sidereal (nirayana) sign of Makara, and the tradition celebrates Uttarayana on this day; the spirit is the same, a welcome to the returning light.

The most moving story of this day is that of Bhishma. Wounded by Arjuna's arrows in the Mahabharata war, Bhishma fell on the battlefield onto a bed of arrows. He had a boon from his father Shantanu that he would die only when he chose. The Sun was then in Dakshinayana, and Bhishma resolved not to leave his body until Uttarayana came, because in the tradition leaving the body in Uttarayana is held to lead to the highest end. For nearly two months he lay on the arrows, and from that bed he taught Yudhishthira the duties of a king and the deeper lessons of life. Only after the Sun had turned north did he give up his life, at peace.

The second story, from the folk tradition, is of a father and a son. Shani is the son of Surya and Chhaya, and in the tradition the two were never easy with each other; in Jyotish too the Sun and Saturn are counted as enemies. Yet on Makar Sankranti the Sun himself goes to his son's house, the sign of Makara, and stays there a whole month. Folk telling says that Shani welcomed his father with black sesame, since that was all he had at the time, and the Sun was pleased. That is why til matters so much on this day: til is Saturn's substance and jaggery the Sun's, and sharing til with gud became a sign of forgetting old quarrels and speaking sweetly.

The third story is of the Ganga meeting the sea. The sixty thousand sons of King Sagara had been burnt to ashes by the anger of the sage Kapila, and only the water of the Ganga could free them. The effort went on for generations; at last, by the hard penance of King Bhagiratha, the Ganga came down from heaven, Shiva caught her in his matted hair, and she followed Bhagiratha all the way to Kapila's ashram, where her water freed the sons of Sagara and she merged with the sea. In the folk tradition this meeting is held to have come on the day of Makar Sankranti.

That is why the Ganga Sagar fair is held on Makar Sankranti on Sagar Island in Bengal, where the Ganga meets the sea, and lakhs of people bathe there and visit the temple of Kapil Muni. At the Sangam in Prayagraj one of the main baths of the Magh Mela also falls on this day. Those who cannot reach a river bathe at home with water mixed with Ganga jal and til; the merit of faith is the same.

For the bath: Ganga jal (even a little is enough), black or white til, and if you like a til ubtan (ground sesame with a little milk or oil). For the arghya: a copper lota (if you have none, brass or any clean metal will do), clean water, red flowers (hibiscus, red rose or red oleander), akshat (unbroken rice), red sandal paste or roli, a little jaggery or sugar candy, a pinch of til, and a plate or vessel to catch the water of the arghya below.

For the puja and the giving: a picture of Surya (if you have none, the worship is done simply before the rising Sun), a ghee lamp, incense, til laddoos or gajak, jaggery, raw rice and urad dal for khichdi (many homes use moong), a little ghee, salt and green vegetables, and if your means allow a blanket, warm clothes or shoes and socks.

1. Understand the punya kaal. The 'Sankranti moment' is the instant the Sun enters Makara. If that moment comes in the daytime, the punya kaal runs from that moment until sunset the same day. If it comes at night, after sunset, the festival is kept the next day and the punya kaal runs from that next sunrise until sunset. Both times for New Delhi are in the box above. Do the bath, the arghya and the giving within this window; where the punya kaal begins at sunrise, the arghya to the rising Sun is best of all.

2. Prepare the day before. Make or buy til-gud laddoos, set the things you will give (til, jaggery, rice and dal, a blanket) aside in one place, and scrub the copper lota.

3. The bath. If you can, bathe in a sacred river or at a confluence. At home, add a few drops of Ganga jal and a pinch of til to a bucket of water, remember the Ganga in your mind, and bathe. In many homes a til ubtan is rubbed on the body before the bath. In the cold, warm water is just as pure. After the bath put on clean clothes; red, yellow and saffron are held to be the Sun's colours.

4. Prepare the water for the arghya. Fill the copper lota with clean water. Add red flowers, a few grains of akshat, a pinch of red sandal or roli, a little jaggery or sugar candy, and a few grains of til.

5. Face east. Stand on an open roof, in a courtyard, on a balcony or by a window where you can see the Sun, and face east. Set a plate or vessel before your feet so that the water of the arghya falls into it and not on your feet.

6. Offer the arghya. Hold the lota in both hands, raise it to the height of your chest or head, and let the water fall slowly in a thin stream. Look at the Sun through the falling stream; that is the tradition, to see the Sun through the water. As the water falls, say 'Om Ghrini Suryaya Namah' or simply 'Om Suryaya Namah'. Many people offer the arghya three times, some once; either is right. A caution: look at the Sun only for a moment and only while it is rising, soft and red; never stare at the Sun in strong light, as it harms the eyes.

7. Circle and bow. After the arghya, turn round three times where you stand as a pradakshina (circling), and bow to the Sun with folded hands. Later pour the water caught in the plate at the root of a plant, so that it is not stepped on.

8. The sankalp (vow). Take water, akshat and til in your hand and say in your mind or softly, 'In the punya kaal of Makar Sankranti I worship Surya and give in charity for the health, vigour and happiness of myself and my family.' Then let the water fall to the ground.

9. The worship of Surya. At the place of worship set the picture of Surya in the east (if you have no picture, worship facing east). Remember Ganesh first, then offer Surya a tilak of red sandal or roli, red flowers, akshat, incense and a ghee lamp. As the food offering place til-gud laddoos, jaggery and seasonal fruit. Then chant 'Om Ghrini Suryaya Namah' for one mala (108 times), or as many times as you can.

10. Recitation. Those who know it recite the Aditya Hridaya Stotra, the hymn the sage Agastya gave to Shri Rama in the Ramayana before his deciding fight with Ravana. With it, or instead of it, you may read the Surya Kavach or the Surya Chalisa; all three are in this library. If time is short, the chanting and a sincere prayer are enough.

11. Set aside the gifts. After the puja, place the things to be given (til, jaggery, the raw makings of khichdi, a blanket or warm clothes) before Surya, sprinkle them with water and akshat, and then, within the punya kaal, give them to someone in need, a temple priest or a brahmin. Give with respect and folded hands; never look down on the one who receives.

12. Aarti and prasad. Finally do the aarti of Surya, ask forgiveness for any slip, and give the prasad of til-gud to everyone in the house. Then cook khichdi in the kitchen: first offer a little to Surya, then let the family sit and eat together.

Makar Sankranti is called a festival of giving, and in the tradition a gift on this day is held to bear fruit many times over. The main gifts are til (black til especially), jaggery, til-gud laddoos, the raw makings of khichdi (rice and urad dal, with ghee, salt and green vegetables), and, in these winter days, blankets, warm clothes, shoes and socks. Give according to your means; a handful of til and jaggery given with faith is a whole gift. The best gift is the one that truly helps: a blanket for someone shivering, food for someone hungry.

Food: in north India khichdi with ghee, with curd, papad, pickle and chokha; til laddoos, gajak, revdi and jaggery chikki; in Bihar dahi-chuda (beaten rice with curd) and tilkut. Til and jaggery warm the body in winter, so the food of the season and of the festival become one. Many homes avoid onion, garlic, meat and alcohol on this day.

Fasting: Makar Sankranti is above all a festival of bathing and giving, and there is no fast that must be kept. Some people eat nothing until they have bathed and given in the punya kaal, or take one sattvik meal in the day. Those who are ill, pregnant women, the elderly and children should not go hungry; let them take a light meal or only fruit, or keep a symbolic fast by beginning the day with a little til-gud before the puja.

Conduct for the day: speak no bitter word to anyone and do not quarrel; that is the whole message of til-gud. Giving green fodder or jaggery to a cow and grain to the birds is held to be auspicious.

During periods: the traditional view is that a woman does not touch the puja materials or images in those days; another member of the household offers the arghya and the puja, while she remembers the Sun in her mind and joins in the giving. Today many families also hold that the Sun belongs to everyone: to bathe, bow to the Sun from where one stands, chant 'Om Suryaya Namah' in the mind and give with one's own hands is not held to be forbidden. Choose by your family's tradition and your own comfort; the Sun looks at the heart.

In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar this is the festival of 'Khichdi': rice-and-dal khichdi is cooked and its raw makings are given away; at the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur there is a famous custom of offering khichdi on this day, and in Bihar the sankranti is not complete without dahi-chuda and tilkut. In Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Lohri is kept on the evening before the sankranti: til, revdi, peanuts and popcorn are thrown into a bonfire, and homes with a new bride or a newborn child celebrate it with special joy.

In Maharashtra people give til-gul and say 'til-gul ghya, god god bola', take til and jaggery and speak sweetly. In Tamil Nadu it is Pongal: new rice is cooked with milk and jaggery in a clay pot until it boils over, and the next day the cows and bullocks are honoured. In Assam it is Magh Bihu. In Gujarat and Rajasthan it is Uttarayan, a whole day of kite flying on the rooftops.

If you fly kites, do so with care. Glass-coated and nylon ('Chinese') manja (kite string) cuts the wings and throats of birds and badly injures two-wheeler riders on the road; its sale and use are banned in many places. Use plain cotton string, fly from a roof with a parapet, keep an adult with the children, stay away from power lines, and do not run into the road after a cut kite. Do not fly at dawn and dusk, when birds leave and return to their nests. If you see a bird caught in manja, tell the nearest bird-rescue camp or a vet, and the next day take down the manja tangled on roofs and trees and destroy it.

In the tradition, the bath in the punya kaal is held to wash away sins, the arghya to the Sun to bring health and vigour, and the gift of til and jaggery to please both Saturn and the Sun. Remembering the Sun on the day he turns to a new course is a resolve to turn one's own life in a better direction too.

But the loveliest message of the festival lies in the til-gud itself. Sesame seeds are small and a little bitter, jaggery is sweet; together they make a laddoo that gives warmth in the cold. The Sun went himself to his son's house: in a relationship, it is the elder who takes the first step. So at Sankranti let go of old bitterness, meet the one who has been sulking, give a blanket to someone in need, and speak sweetly. This is no promise of miracles; it is a practice of faith and conduct.

The puja ends with the aarti of Surya Dev; its full text is in this library on the 'Surya Dev Aarti' page. Do the aarti with a ghee lamp or camphor, facing east; ring the bell, then pass your hands over the flame and touch them to your eyes. After the aarti share the prasad of til-gud and offer the khichdi.