Uttarayan Vs Makar Sankranti

 

संक्रान्ति-पर्वस्य-शुभाषया: | Iniya Pongal. Twanu Lohri Di Lakh Lakh Vadhaiyan. Bohag Bihur Shubheccha.  I will not wish you Happy Uttarayana today. Why? Read on further.  

There are 12 Sankrantis in each year. Whenever Sun enters a Rashi/Zodiac sign, it is a Sankranti. 

रवे: संक्रमणम् राशौ संक्रांतिरिति कथ्यते 
Raveh sankramanam rashau sankranti iti kathyate


These 12 festivals are based on the Sun calendar. Other Hindu Festivals are based on the Lunar Calendar. 

We have Mesha sankranti, vrishabha sankranti, mithuna sankranti etc. when Sun moves into each of the 12 Rashis.  When the Sun moves from Dhanur Rashi to Makar Rashi, it is celebrated as Makar Sankranti.  

Exact time when Sun leaves one Rashi and enters the next rashi is impossible of being marked by our eyes.  30 ghatikas before and after the moment of sankranti is the prescribed time or Punyakala when the sadhanas/rituals/worship etc. can be done to gain maximum merit or punya.  24min is 1 ghatika.  So 12 hours before and after is the punya kala.

In Devi Purana it is said:  


30th part of the time taken by the throb of the eye of a person sitting happily at ease is called tatpara

100th part of tatpara is called Truti

100th part of truti is the duration of sun’s passage from one rashi to another.  It is amazing to know how our ancestors calculated time so precisely.  

There is a common misconception that Makar Sankranti marks the beginning of Uttarayana and also that Makar Sankranti falls on same english date each year. This is because at some time in the past, it used to be so when the Sayana and Nirayana Zodiacs were the same. Every year sidereal and tropical equinoxes slide by 50 seconds due to axial precession of earth, giving birth to Ayanamsha and causing Makar Sankranti to slide further.  As of today, the winter solstice or Uttarayana starts on 21st December and we celebrate the Sun's entry into the Makar Rashi or Makar Sankranti on 14/15 Jan. 

In 272 AD, Makar Sankranti was on Dec 21(Uttarayana & Makar Sankranti co-inciding). In 1000 AD, Makar Sankranti was on Dec 31 and now it falls on January 14. After 9000 years, Makar Sankranti will be in June. This way it will keep changing over 26000 years when once again Uttarayana and Makara Sankranti will coincide. The date of Uttarayana does not change. It remains 21/22 Dec. only.  

Also, please see this video of Dr.Koenraad Elst which explains clearly and logically why Makar Sankranti and Uttarayana today are not on the same day.

You can read a detailed article on Makar Sankranti & astronomy by Dr.Raj Vedam here. 

How to observe Sankranti vrata? (can be done on all 12 Sankrantis)

Matsya Purana Chapter 98 says that On the previous day a person should take food only once in the noon and on the Sankranti day should brush the teeth, take a bath with water mixed with sesame.  The person should offer to a brahmana some daana as per one's capacity or just offer them some fruits.  Then one should take the meal without oil and should feed others according to one's ability.  Great merit is attached to a bath in the Ganges on a Sankranti. One reaches Brahmaloka due to this.  Whatever offerings are made to gods and ptrs on sankranti are returned to them by the Sun again in several future lives.  

स्नान-दान-तप:-श्राद्ध-होमादिषु-महाफ़ला: 

Snana-daana-tapah-shraadha-homa mahaphalaah.

Even one act done at this time of Sankranti yields results multiplied crores of times.  

Shivarahasya declares that Shiva created sessame on Makara sankranti.  Hence on this Makara Sankranti day, take bath with sessame water, offer shraddha for ancestors with til, offer tarpan to gods with til, eat til laddus, perform homa with til, do daana of til, light lamps of til-oil especially in Shiva temple, offer sessame to Lord Shiva.

What is the spiritual significance of Sankranti?

1. Sun worship has been a part of our culture since time immemorial. Gayatri Mantra is one the main sadhanas one is initiated into from Childhood.  Sun is the presiding deity of the Intellect and Moon is the presiding deity of the mind.  Any success is achieved when mind is quiet and intellect is sharp.  During transition of Sun & movement of the moon, it is important to ensure our mind & intellect remain quiet and sharp. Hence the sadhanas on Sankranti are important.  

2. यथा भेदम् न पश्यामि शिव-विष्ण्वर्क-पद्मजान् ।

तथा ममास्तु विश्वात्मा शङ्कर: शङ्कर: सदा ।।

Yatha bhedam na pashyaami shiva-vishnvarka-padmajaan


Tatha mamaastu vishvaatma shankarah shankarah sadaa Matsya purana 98.17

As I do not make any difference between Shiva, Vishnu, the Sun and Brahma, may Shankara who pervades the whole universe be auspicious to me. 

For us Sun is the creator, sustainer and destroyer and not merely a geographical star who will perish.  Sun is Ishwara for us.  Hence we worship the Sun. 

3. Sun is the symbol of life, knowledge, warmth of love, tireless spirit of service for us.  We worship the movements of Sun also to remind us minimum 12 times in a year that what is truly important is the above and not just material wealth, sense-pleasures etc. 

4. Upanishads tell us that Sun is the symbol of Pure Consciousness in us. It is the light of Consciousness within that illumines the body, mind and intellect, like the Sun illumines the world.  The realised person also experiences this.  

What is the spiritual significance of Uttarayana?

1. Uttarayana and winter solstice are same.  Somehow people tend to think that Uttarayana begins on Makara Sankranti.  It does not.  Uttarayana is what we should actually be celebrating because the Sun starts its Northern movement on that day.  By itself, Sun going into Makara Rashi is nothing special because every month it will enter a new Rashi. Only when Makara Sankranti co-incided with Uttarayana, it got a special significance. I'm not suggesting that we do not celebrate Pongal or stop kite-flying on Jan 14th etc.  That can be done. But Uttarayana is much more important and deserves a greater celebration.   

2. Uttara is the direction of North which stands for Knowledge. South represents death or Yama.  A jeeva runs away from death/change and wants to attain Immortality or Permanent Happiness.  That can be experienced only through Knowledge. Hence one seeks the Direction of the North.  Sun starts its Northward Movement on Uttarayana signifying the seeker's quest.  Sadhana becomes easier in Uttarayana months. Dakshinaayana months in Bhaarat there are rains, autumn, winter etc. where consistency is difficult and one is more easily overpowered with laziness, lethargy etc.  

3. Uttarayana time when one drops the body, like Bhishma, the deities of Uttarayana, bright fortnight, day time, fire, brighness etc. lead a seeker to Brahmaloka from where the Seeker gets Krama-Mukti or gradual liberation and one does not return to the earth in mortal form.  One who drops the body during dakshinayana time, dark fortnight, night time, in smoky conditions, is led by these deities to Chandraloka, from where one returns to the earth in mortal form.  

Hence Uttarayana is important for a seeker while living, at the time of dying and even after death.  

Let us remember these significances and ensure that we celebrate Sankranti as a Hindu Festival to worship Surya and the transition. Let us not reduce it to merely a harvest festival or a kite-flying festival or a til-gud festival.  These no doubt are beautiful ways we celebrate Sankranti. But if we forget the deeper purpose, we are missing out a lot individually and culturally our festivals get appropriated by others and the Hindu-Vedic-Dharmik-Sadhana aspects are completely lost to us and the future generations. The loss is immense and we cannot afford it.  

Source for some of the above: History of Dharmashastras by Dr.P.V.Kane