Every mid-January, a remarkable phenomenon unfolds across India: millions celebrate what appears to be different festivals—Makara Sankranti in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Lohri in Punjab, Magh Bihu in Assam, Poush Sankranti in Bengal. The rituals differ, the foods vary, the names change. Yet all occur on the same astronomical date.
Is this mere coincidence? Or does a deeper cosmic and biological science unite these seemingly disparate celebrations?
Today, we’re embarking on a journey through ancient astronomy, Ayurvedic medicine, Vedic timekeeping, and cultural anthropology to uncover the profound unity underlying India’s mid-winter festivals.
To understand the significance of Uttarayana—the astronomical event at the heart of these festivals—we must begin with one of the Mahabharata’s most powerful stories.
Bhishma Pitamaha, the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, possessed a unique blessing: Icchha Mrityu—the power to choose the moment of his death. After falling on the 10th day of the Kurukshetra war, pierced by countless arrows forming a bed beneath him, he lay conscious for 58 days and nights.
Why didn’t he simply choose to die immediately and end his agony?
Because he was waiting for a specific astronomical moment.
Mahabharata, Shanti Parva 47.3 records:
शुक्लपक्षस्य चाष्टम्यां माघमासस्य पार्थिव ।
प्रजापतये च नक्षत्रे माध्यं प्राप्ते दिवाकरे ॥
निवृत्तमात्रे त्वयन उत्तरे वै दिवाकरे ।
समावेशयदात्मानमात्मन्येव समाहितः ॥
Translation: “On the eighth day of the bright fortnight of Magha month, when the sun was at midday and the moon in Rohini Nakshatra, when Uttarayana had finally begun, Bhishma, fully absorbed, merged his soul into the Supreme Soul.”
Bhishma waited specifically for Uttarayana—the day the sun begins its northward journey. Why?
In Bhagavad Gita 8.24, Lord Krishna explains:
अग्निर्ज्योतिरहः शुक्लः षण्मासा उत्तरायणम् ।
तत्र प्रयाता गच्छन्ति ब्रह्म ब्रह्मविदो जनाः ॥
Transliteration: Agnir jyotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam
Tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ
Translation: “Fire, light, day, the bright fortnight, the six months of Uttarayana—those who know Brahman and depart during this period attain the Supreme Brahman.”
The next verse (8.25) describes the opposite path:
धूमो रात्रिस्तथा कृष्णः षण्मासा दक्षिणायनम् ।
तत्र चान्द्रमसं ज्योतिर्योगी प्राप्य निवर्तते ॥
Translation: “Smoke, night, the dark fortnight, the six months of Dakshinayana—the yogi departing during this period attains the lunar light and returns [to the cycle of rebirth].”
Uttarayana represents the path to liberation; Dakshinayana represents the path of return.
Bhishma’s wait wasn’t superstition—it was based on a sophisticated understanding of cosmic timing and spiritual science.
The earth’s tilted axis (23.5 degrees) creates the appearance that the sun “moves” northward and southward throughout the year.
Uttarayana (uttara = north, ayana = movement) marks the period when the sun begins its apparent northward journey from the Tropic of Capricorn toward the Tropic of Cancer.
Dakshinayana (dakshina = south) is the opposite—when the sun moves southward.
The Surya Siddhanta, one of the earliest Indian astronomical treatises (composed approximately 400-500 CE, though containing knowledge from earlier periods), defines sankranti:
मेषादिषु यदा सूर्यः संक्रान्तिं कुरुते द्विज ।
तदा संक्रान्तिरित्युक्ता सर्वकर्मप्रसाधिका ॥
Transliteration: Meṣādiṣu yadā sūryaḥ saṅkrāntiṁ kurute dvija
Tadā saṅkrāntir ityuktā sarva-karma-prasādhikā
Translation: “When the Sun transitions from one zodiac sign to another, O twice-born one, that moment is called Sankranti, and it is auspicious for all sacred actions.”
Makara Sankranti specifically refers to the sun’s transition into Makara Rashi (Capricorn)—marking the beginning of Uttarayana.
Here’s an interesting historical fact: Makara Sankranti was once synonymous with the Winter Solstice (shortest day, around December 21-22). Due to the precession of the equinoxes (a gradual shift in Earth’s rotational axis), these dates have drifted apart over millennia.
Ancient texts reference Uttarayana as the Winter Solstice itself. Today, we celebrate Makara Sankranti on January 14-15 based on Sayana (tropical) calculations, while the actual solstice occurs in late December.
This explains why Bhishma Ashtami (his death anniversary) falls in Magha month (January-February), several weeks after the modern Sankranti date—he likely departed on the actual Winter Solstice of his era.
Ancient Indian medicine didn’t view the body as independent from nature—it understood humans as deeply embedded in seasonal rhythms.
Ritucharya (ritu = season, charya = regimen) is Ayurveda’s science of seasonal adaptation.
Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutrasthana Chapter 3 divides the year into:
Adana Kala (Northern Solstice) – Sun takes strength:
Visarga Kala (Southern Solstice) – Sun releases strength: 4. Varsha (Monsoon: Mid-July to Mid-September) 5. Sharad (Autumn: Mid-September to Mid-November) 6. Hemanta (Early Winter: Mid-November to Mid-January)
Charaka Samhita notes that during Hemanta and Shishira, human beings possess Pravara Bala—supreme strength.
Why?
When external temperature drops:
Makara Sankranti marks the transition from Hemanta to Shishira—the peak period of digestive strength, when the body can efficiently process heavy, nourishing foods.
Now the traditional foods make scientific sense:
Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana states:
तिलाः स्निग्धा उष्णा बल्याः
कफवातहराः स्मृताः ॥
Transliteration: Tilāḥ snigdhā uṣṇā balyāḥ
Kapha-vāta-harāḥ smṛtāḥ
Translation: “Sesame seeds are unctuous, warming, strength-giving, and balance Vata and Kapha doshas.”
Scientific Benefits:
Sesame seeds provide:
Jaggery provides:
Together, they support:
South India (Pongal):
North India (Lohri):
Maharashtra (Sankranti):
Makara Sankranti coincides with:
This is why gratitude forms the core of all these festivals.
Taittiriya Upanishad, Bhriguvalli declares:
अन्नं न निन्द्यात् तद् व्रतम् ।
अन्नं न परिचक्षीत तद् व्रतम् ।
Translation: “Do not despise food—that is the sacred vow.
Do not refuse food—that is the sacred vow.”
And further:
अन्नं ब्रह्म इति व्यजानात् ।
Translation: “One should know that food is Brahman [the ultimate reality].”
This isn’t poetic metaphor—it’s philosophical recognition that:
It’s no accident that Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation) is performed extensively during Makara Sankranti across India. The twelve-position sequence:
Let’s examine how different regions express the same core principle:
Observed: Across India, especially Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
Key Practices:
Core Message: Solar gratitude, social harmony, spiritual aspiration
Observed: Four-day festival
Key Symbol: The Overflowing Pot
Core Message: Gratitude to sun, soil, cattle, water—all elements of agriculture
Observed: Evening before Makara Sankranti
Key Practices:
Core Message: Community solidarity, warmth (physical and social), fertility and new beginnings
Observed: Three-day harvest festival
Key Practices:
Core Message: Harvest celebration, ancestral gratitude, community games
Observed: Last day of Poush month
Key Practices:
Core Message: Ancestral reverence, pilgrimage, sacred foods
What makes these festivals profound isn’t just their astronomical or biological basis—it’s how they encode a philosophy of conscious relationship with nature.
In an age of climate-controlled environments and 24/7 artificial lighting, why do these seasonal festivals matter?
Because they reconnect us to:
Modern chronobiology (the study of biological rhythms) confirms what Ayurveda taught 2,000 years ago:
Research shows that:
Makara Sankranti’s timing—marking the end of decreasing daylight—psychologically signals hope and renewal.
A beautiful saying captures the essence:
एकं सत् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति
“Truth is one; the wise call it by many names” (Rig Veda 1.164.46)
Makara Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Magh Bihu, Poush Sankranti—these aren’t different philosophies competing for supremacy. They’re regional expressions of a single cosmic truth:
Human life depends on:
These winter festivals represent something remarkable: cultural technology for maintaining:
They encode:
All this wisdom compressed into simple, replicable practices that grandmothers have taught grandchildren for millennia—without needing to explain the science explicitly.
This is the genius of shastraic festivals: they work whether you understand the mechanism or not.
But understanding the mechanism deepens appreciation, strengthens practice, and allows conscious transmission to future generations.
This Makara Sankranti / Pongal / Lohri:
Because these festivals aren’t relics of a pre-scientific past—they’re sophisticated technologies for living in harmony with natural law.
Jayanth Dev is an author writing on Hindu scriptures, Sanatana Dharma, and mythological narratives through books, long-form articles, and explanatory talks.
His work focuses on examining scriptural ideas in context—drawing from the Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas to clarify commonly misunderstood concepts and traditions. Across both fiction and non-fiction, he approaches Sanatana thought as a living framework rather than a static belief system.
Jayanth is the author of I Met Parashurama, Escaping the Unknown, and the Dhantasura series.
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