Mixed Bag Of Cookies- Sixty years of tossing and turning!!

My Birthday Falling today on 31 January 2018 truly represents my life Pattern. Unique in all ways, truly a mixed Bag of cookies. Some Salty, Some Sweet, Some Bitter Chocolate, Some caramelized. But I truly cherish all those moments.

Today's Birthday falls on a full moon day and a Blue Moon at that , and followed by a Total Lunar Eclipse, for devout Hindus another auspicious day as it is Thai Poosam dedicated to Lord Muruga. You see the pattern, Auspiciousness blossoming to a full rare Blue Moon eclipsed by its shadowy counterpart only to be released to its fullness again. There goes my Life story. Extreme activity like Cycling 360 Kms to Bangalore at one time and sitting on hard flour for Five hours at a stretch at another. To strike the balance was the issue! This is where the Guru came in to rock the boat only to direct it the Right way.

Been fortunate to have a good family, Select Friends who are Friends till date! Inspite of my Vagaries of extremity at times. A Spiritual Guru who pointed out the right Source of Happiness at an Age when the Shimmering Tinsel world was trying to taunt me into its tentacle , and there He was standing like a Rock beside me.

So my Adolescent Age and Teenage and Middle Age was spent on the hard floors of Ashrams and temple hopping when my friends were Pub Hopping. When my Audit seniors would line up for New Cinema Release I would sneak in to Vivekannada Rock Memorial only to spend Three Nights consecutively secluded on the Rock.

True Finding is, Life has come a full cycle. The vanity of the austerities have fallen off, only to find that irrespective of what You think you are doing, God finds you! You do not contribute anything in Finding Him. It is His Grace alone which matters. I have childhood friends who were Atheists and who ridiculed me in my pursuits turning to hard core Spiritualists now. I know of Friends being Communists in College build Temples or Joined Ashrams.

So Past does not count, Future does not exist, It is the NOW which is ever present. Little wiser now, I take care of my present. Do what I want to do. Do not bother myself about absurd rigidities imposed by the Social Norms or get dictated by Religious doctrines. It is more like a Free format drive. Flow with the current Only dictated by the Conscience, nothing else. Life becomes much easier that way and more awareness of the present sets in.

The rush to accumulate Things is gone, it is more like releasing what I have. Less Luggage More comfort- a slogan I have seen on Railway coaches takes on a new twist and winks at me!
At the same time forced simplicity like Diogenes has lost its charm and I do not find using a Luxury item a Tax anymore. Everything has its time and Place. What is there now is gone the next moment. So attaching undue importance to people, place or things only creates misery.

Children have this habit, always comparing things. They can ask for hours question like If Tiger and Hippo fights who will win? If you answer next question will be ready If Superman and Spider man fights who will win? The list is endless. Now do not laugh!! As adults nothing much has changed. Only to be replaced with Who is Bigger? My God or your God? My Guru or Your Guru? So where is the progress? Zilch. I hope coming years will be productive in evolution and just patiently waiting for the next toss or turn!!

So here I am breaking my own promise of posting on Silence posting my Little mind's prattle.

See you at another time!

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Benefits of Silence

Q: Could tell us about the benefits of silence and how we could bring that home with us from this retreat?

A:Many of us have realized in the last few days that silence can be enjoyable. We realize that there are many things that we do not have to say, and that then we can reserve the time and energy to do other things that can help us to look more deeply into ourselves and things around us.

If you are pushed by your habit energy to say something, don't say it. Instead, take a notebook and write it down. A day or two later, read what you wrote, and you might find out that it would have been an awful thing to say. So slowly you become master of yourself, and you know what to say and what not to say.

I remember one time I proposed to a sister that she practice silence. She was an elder nun and she had a few negative seeds in her that prevented her from being happy. She was just a little bit too hard on the other sisters. I proposed to her that she was a very talented person, very skillful in many things, and she could make many people happy if only she knew how to be silent and to say only things that needed to be said.

I proposed to her that she use only three sentences for three months. She could repeat these three sentences as many times as she wanted(laughter) and I told her that if she practiced that for a week, she would feel happiness right away. The first sentence was, "Dear sister,is there anything I can do to help you?" (laughter) The second sentence was, "Did you like what I did to help you?" The third was, "Would you have any suggestion that I can do it better?" (laughter) If she could say that, she would make many people happy and the happiness would go back to herself very quickly.

In the family we can practice silence. We can ask the other members of the family to agree that we will practice silence for three days or for a week. It is very beneficial. There will be a transformation after the period of practicing silence.

Thich Naht Hanh

Miracles and cure

Excerpt from “Baba is God”- H.E.J.R.Jayawardene- Former President SriLanka.

As President of Sri Lanka, I had invited Baba on several occasions to visit Sri Lanka as a guest of Government and People. Though He was keen to visit us, He did not find an opportunity of doing so. However, in April this year, 1990, I visited Bangalore and had two audiences with Him on Thursday and 19th April and Saturday the 21st April. He spoke quite freely to me and to many others from Sri Lanka who meets Him with me.

His advice was always based on the teachings of the religious teachers, namely the Hindu Avatars, Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed.
He answered our questions dealing with public matters as well as private ones quite freely and in the contest of the same noble principles He always advocated. We were all deeply impressed by His presence and advice.
I remember several extra-ordinary healings narrated to me directly by persons who experienced them, of whose friends had experienced them.


I will mention one of them, which I heard directly from a reputed and highly qualified surgeon. A patient who needed surgical treatment to remove a portion of his intestines, which were subject to cancer, had seen him. He did not have the operation performed. He had gone away.


Ten years later, the same person whom the Doctor did not recognize, had consulted him again. This time he needed an immediate operation for a prostrate problem.


When they were preparing for an immediate operation, the patient asked him, “Dr; do you know who I am? “ When the Doctor replied “No! “He introduced himself as the patient who had seen him about 10 years ago for the operation mentioned above.


The Doctor was surprised that he was alive today without having the earlier operation.. The patient said, Dr, soon after I left you I paid my respects personally to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. His miraculous cure helped me to live without an operation. Baba further advised me that 10 years from that date, you would need an operation for a prostrate problem and then to see the same Doctor and not to delay the operation. That is why I immediately consented to being operated by you.


This doctor, who is not a Hindu and not a devotee, narrated this story to me when he heard that I had visited His Holiness in Bangalore.


I accept Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba as a Purna Avatar. His presence in this world enables Him to advise with His words of wisdom and love those who live in it.


Swami Says - The nature of divine can be understood only when the divine in human form teaches as man to man, the nature of this love.


Jai Sai Ram 

Wedding Gift

Bhagavan's Wedding Gift for a Student's Sister

I am also happy to let you know that Bhagavan did two important miracles that day. Having come out of the interview room, suddenly, He called one boy. Then, He just looked at him and took the wedding card he had for his sister.

The boy said, "Swami, this is my sister's wedding card."

"OK," He said and told the boy to go and sit.

The boy went and sat in the tenth or fifteenth row, which was his seat that day. At the end of arati, he finds there in another cover, the Mangalasutra, the sacred knot or the golden chain, which is given to the bride on the wedding day. The boy was thrilled and he told me. I was very excited to hear this. I have been sharing this with as many groups as possible because you must have understood my temperament. I cannot be at peace unless I share whatever I know with everybody. Yes, it is the greatest delight!

Another Vibhuthi Wonder

I can also share with you another miracle. There is a district by the name Khammam about a fifteen hours drive from here. There is a very small village close to Khammam by the name Chilukuru. Our seva dals went there and started doing some service. They noticed a Hanuman temple there, which was dilapidated and neglected. There was no priest, no daily worship, nothing whatsoever. So, the seva dals cleaned the whole premises; they whitewashed the whole temple. While they were there, they kept Baba's picture.

From Bhagavan's picture, vibhuthi started flowing continuously. Those seva dals were immensely happy for the kindness of Bhagavan, approving and accepting their service to Hanuman. In doing this, Swami was establishing that He and Hanuman are one and the same.

The seva dals also did bhajans there in the temple premises. They saw Baba's face in the photo, full red in colour. Normally, Hanuman's face is smeared with the red colour (vermillion), as most of us must have seen. They noticed the same thing on Baba's face. I also wanted to share this had happened.

From: Anil Kumar Satsang, "Sai Pearls of Wisdom"

Going Bananas

At the rate of Dhs 12/- a dozen, death is being sold now-a-days in our markets.My request for everybody is to be vigilant. Friends, we all love bananas and we eat a lot of them, but the bananas available in the market are forced ripe by dipping in water mixed with Carbide.The consumption of these bananas is 100% sure to cause Cancer or some other infection in the stomach. Therefore, such type of bananas are to be avoided.

But, how does one recognize the bananas ripened with the help of Carbide?  Bananas which are ripened naturally are dark yellow and there are small black spots here and there on the bananas and the stalks are black.While those which are forced ripe with Carbide are lemon yellow and their stalks are green and more over they are clear yellow without any black spots.

Now, what is Carbide and how is it harmful?  Carbide is a chemical which if mixed with water, emits heat and the heat emitted by a Close tank mixed with Carbide is even more than that emitted by a LPG Cylinder, so much so it can be used for Gas Cutting (which means the calorific value is so high that it can replace LPG gas).

 In the same way, when the bunch of bananas are dipped in the water mixed with Carbide, the gas gets absorbed into the bananas and they get ripe.  However, the banana vendors are not that literate and so they do not know the exact proportion of Carbide to be used for a dozen of bananas.  As a result they end up using excess quantity of Carbide which gets absorbed into the bananas and ultimately enters our stomach.  Due to this excess use of Carbide, Tumours can be formed in our digestive system.So, next time you purchase bananas, make sure you select the naturally ripened ones. 

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Your Duck is dead!!

  A woman brought a very limp duck into a  veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away." The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet.

 "How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

 The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left  the room. He returned a few minutes later with a  black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs,  put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at  the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it  out of the room. 

A few minutes later he returned  with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also  delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat  back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly  and strolled out of the room. The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm  sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100%  certifiably, a dead duck." The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a  few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the  woman..

 The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill.  "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is  dead!".  The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just  taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but  with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."


Krishnamachari Santhanam

Austerity

Austerity

In Shri Sai Satcharitra, Chapter XIV it is said that Baba always used to get wild and scolded those who brought costly & rich articles.

He had told Mr. Nanasaheb Chandorkar that His property consisted of1 Koupin (codpiece), 1 stray piece of cloth, 1 Kafni & a Tumbler, and that all the people troubled Him by bringing all these unnecessary, useless and costly articles."

Baba also never allowed Mahalsapati to accept any money or gifts

that devotees who came to see Baba showered on him. Baba kept him poor in Kind, but rich in his Spiritual Heart. Baba gifted him the supreme Bliss, much more valuable than any physical and transitory richness.

But, Baba always preferred Simplicity and was very much against the display of one's Wealth or power. He never gathered any sort of wealth except for the Love of his devotees.

 And today, devotees in love and gratitude for Baba, offer Gold / Silver and other Precious items to Baba. So much so that, everything has now been covered in Gold, be it Baba's Throne, his Chariot or the Walls & Pillars of his Samadhi's sanctum sanctorum. In a way, Baba has now been immersed in all the things for which he stood against.

I am also reminded of what Sri Sathya Sai Baba used to say, " When Pradarshan is there , there is no Darshan." and " When you hear the sound of a coin, I will not be there'" . That is why in Parthi you will not find till date a single Hundi.


As Devotees where are we failing?, Think and the answer will be very visible.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

I , the False Identity!

I

BECAUSE you have taken residence in this body, you cannot call the body "I". When you sit here in this Hall, you do not call the Hall "I". You know, you are separate and that you are here only temporarily. When you go about in a Tonga, you do not say that the Tonga is you, do you? You do not take the Tonga inside, when you step down from it on reaching home. So, also, you have to drop this body when you reach "home".

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Excess Humility is False Pride

Diogenes

“Diogenes, the famous cynic philosopher, argued that
to be happy one must rid himself of all riches, honors,
powers, and all the enjoyments of life,and he practiced
what he preached, going barefoot through Athens, never
wearing a coat, eating coarse foods, and inveighing against
corruption and comfort. 

Diogenes was, in fact, convinced
of his superiority and did not hesitate to abuse those who
disagreed with him. It is reported that Socrates once said
to him, ‘I see your vanity through the holes in your
garments.’ 

Even more telling is the incident of Diogene’s
visit to Plato in his home. When the cynic walked across
Plato’s beautifully and richly carpeted floors, he stopped,
glared at his host stamped his foot squarely on the carpet,
and said, ‘Thus do I tread on the pride of Plato.’ ‘Yes,’ said
Plato, ‘And with a greater pride.”


Krishnamachari Santhanam

Upanayanam

Upanayanam

Recently someone in the family wanted to know what is the purpose of Upanayanam. So I thought I will blog an elementary sketch of the Facts on Upanayanam.

Upanayana  is one of the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) that marked the acceptance of a student by a guru (teacher) and an individual's entrance to a school in Hinduism. The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Sanskrit texts of India and varies regionally

Every male child born in certain Hindu communities has to go through the Upanayana ritual. Upanayana is also known as Munji, Brahmopadesham (supreme teaching), and Sacred thread ceremony. The Yagnopavitha / Janivara / Sacred thread / Janoi is worn as a symbol of having gone through this ceremony.

Yagnopavitham. : a cotton thread with which a Hindu youth of the three twice-born castes and some Sudras is invested at the ceremony of initiation (as at the age of from eight to twelve) and which is worn constantly thereafter from the left shoulder across the body to the right. So unlike what the current Dravidian moment is Broadcasting wearing a sacred Thread or Poonul is not the sole Right of Brahmins. It is the right of every Hindu.

In some Hindu families the Sacred Thread ceremony is performed when a boy is growing up. He is given three strands of the sacred thread which represent three promises (vows) he makes: to respect the knowledge, the parents and the society.

A girdle made of Munja Grass ( Bengal Cane) is tied around the boy's girdle. It is rough and is supposed to irritate the Boy whenever he wants to lie down to sleep. Thus Sleep or Tamas the first hindrance to Knowledge is Countered.

A Deer skin is also normally tied to the Sacred Thread, Deer Skin is called Krishnajinam and is taken from the skin of a Deer after its natural death. It represents the qualities of a Sadhu animal and since Brahmachari should live a very disciplined life, his mind must be tuned accordingly. It shows the ideal asana for Sadhus and is known to resist the approach of snakes, etc.

Brahmopadesam or the Supreme Initiation as it is called initiates the Boy to the Chanting of the Gayathri Manthra which is is acclaimed as the essence of the three Vedas Rig, Yajur and Sama. Thus the Upanayanam ceremony gives the right of passage to a Hindu Boy to learn the Vedas and by chanting the Gayathri Manthra he invokes the Divine Goddess's Grace to illuminate his Intellect for higher learning.

The Upanayanam Ceremony bestows the right and obligation on the Hindu Boy to do an obligatory worship three times a day namely ,Sandhyavandanam . It  literally means "salutation to Sandhya". Sandhya, in turn, has traditionally been interpreted either as "the transition moments of the day" (namely the two twilight dawn and dusk), or as "the solar noon". Thus, Sandhyavandanam may be defined as the ritual "salutation to twilight or the solar noon". This performing of Sandhya rights alone gives the Right to an Hindu to perform other vedic rituals.


The Importance and Meaning of Gayathri Manthra, may be in another Blog?



See you till then!





Krishnamachari Santhanam

The Divine Dance

Chidambaram- Ponnambalam - The Temple with the Golden Vimana

Natarajar Temple at Chidambaram is living testimony of ancient “Advanced astrological and geological knowledge” of Hindus surpassing to anything contemporary. STUNNING FEATURES OF ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCY:

The place where temple located is the center point of world’s magnetic equator.... Three of the five Panchaboothasthala temples, those at Kalahasti, Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line exactly at 79 degree 41 minutes East longitude -truly an engineering, astrological and geographical wonder.

 Of the other two temples, Tiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Tiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west).

The 9 gateways signify the 9 orifices in the human body. The Chitsabai or Ponnambalam, the sanctum sanctorum represents the heart which is reached by a flight of 5 stairs called the Panchaatchara padi – pancha meaning 5, achhara – indestructible syllables – “SI VA YA NA MA”, from a raised anterior dias – the Kanakasabai. The access to the Sabhai is through the sides of the stage (and not from the front as in most temples). The Chit sabha roof is supported by four pillars symbolic of the four Vedas . The Ponnambalam or the Sanctum sanctorum is held by 28 pillars – representing the 28 agama s or set methodologies for the worship of Shiva. The roof is held by a set of 64 beams representing the 64 forms of art and is held by several cross-beams representing the innumerable blood vessels. The roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word SIVAYANAMA inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths. The golden tiles are fixed using 72,000 golden nails which represents the no. of nadis exists in human body. The roof is topped by a set of 9 sacred pots or kalasas, representing the 9 forms of energy. The arthamandapa (sanctum) has six pillars denoting the six shastras (holy texts). The hall next to the artha mantapa has eighteen pillars symbolizing the eighteen Puranas

The Demon you find under Nataraja's dancing feet is Apasmara , another story deeply linked to the esoteric knowledge of Arya vartha and closely knitted with the medical knowledge available as of date. May be in another Blogpost?

See you till then!

Krishnamachari Santhanam

OM

Chandogya Upanishad - First Kanda

1. LET a man meditate on the syllable  Om, called the udgîtha; for the udgîtha (a portion of the Sâma-veda) is sung, beginning with Om.

The full account, however, of Om is this:--

2. The essence  of all beings is the earth, the essence of the earth is water, the essence of water

 the plants, the essence of plants man, the essence of man speech, the essence of speech the Rig-veda, the essence of the Rig-veda the Sâma-veda , the essence of the Sâma-veda the udgîtha (which is Om).

3. That udgîtha (Om) is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth.

4. What then is the Rik? What is the Sâman? What is the udgîtha? 'This is the question.

5. The Rik  indeed is speech, Sâman is breath, the udgîtha is the syllable Om. Now speech and breath, or Rik and Sâman, form one couple.

6. And that couple is joined together in the syllable Om. When two people come together, they fulfil each other's desire.

7. Thus he who knowing this, meditates on the syllable (Om), the udgîtha, becomes indeed a fulfiller of desires.

8. That syllable is a syllable of permission, for whenever we permit anything, we say Om, yes. Now permission is gratification. He who knowing this meditates on the syllable (Om), the udgîtha, becomes indeed a gratifier of desires.

9. By that syllable does the threefold knowledge (the sacrifice, more particularly the Soma-sacrifice, as founded on the three Vedas) proceed. When the Adhvaryu priest gives an order, he says Om. When the Hotri priest recites, he says Om. When the Udgâtri priest sings, he says Om. --all for the glory of that syllable. The threefold knowledge (the sacrifice) proceeds by the greatness of that syllable (the vital breaths), and by its essence (the oblations) .

10. Now therefore it would seem to follow, that both he who knows this (the true meaning of the syllable Om), and he who does not, perform the same sacrifice. But this is not so, for knowledge and ignorance are different. The sacrifice which a man performs with knowledge, faith, and the Upanishad  is more powerful. This is the full account of the syllable Om.

Arjuna Vishada Yoga (2)

Bagvath Gita Vahini- Arjuna Vishada Yoga

The wise do not grieve either for the living or the dead. Shall I tell you why? Well, you are feeling grief over the body, which alone decays on death. Did you grieve when the body underwent many changes hitherto? The child disappeared in the boy, the boy disappeared in the youth, the youth became lost in the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man was lost in the aged old man and the old man is lost in death. You never wept for the changes that affect the body so long; why then weep for this one change of death? Have you, today, the body you had when you were young? So why grieve over death?



#Arjunavishadayoga #srikrishna #saibagwathgithavahini

Impostors

Paundraka Vasudev!

There had always been impostors! Even during dwapara Yuga! So why lament about False godmen and their tall claims to being God almighty!

This chapter relates how Lord Krsna went to Kasi (present-day Benares) and killed Paundraka and Kasiraja, and how the Lord's Sudarsana disc defeated a demon, incinerated the city of Kasi and killed Sudaksina.

While Lord Baladeva was visiting Vraja, King Paundraka of Karusa, encouraged by fools, announced that he was the real Vasudeva. Thus he challenged Lord Krsna with the following message: "Since I alone am the true Personality of Godhead, You should give up Your false claim to this position, as well as my divine symbols, and take shelter of me. If You do not, then prepare for battle."

When Ugrasena and the members of his royal assembly heard Paundraka's foolish boast, they all laughed heartily. Sri Krsna then told Paundraka's messenger to convey a message to his master: "O fool, I will force you to give up the so-called Sudarsana disc and the other divine symbols of Mine you have dared to assume. And when you lie down on the battlefield, you will become the shelter of dogs."

Lord Krsna then went to Kasi. Paundraka, seeing the Lord preparing for battle, quickly came out of the city to confront Him with his army. His friend Kasiraja followed him, leading the rear guard. Just as the fire of universal devastation destroys every living being in all directions, so Lord Krsna annihilated the armies of Paundraka and Kasiraja. Then, after chastising Paundraka, the Lord beheaded both him and Kasiraja with His Sudarsana disc. Thereafter, He returned to Dvaraka. Because Paundraka had constantly meditated on the Supreme Lord, even dressing like Him, he gained liberation.

When Krsna beheaded Kasiraja, the King's head flew into his city, and when his queens, sons and other relatives saw it, they all began to lament. At that time a son of Kasiraja's named Sudaksina, wanting to avenge his father' s death, began worshiping Lord Siva with the intention of destroying his father's killer. Gratified by Sudaksina's worship, Lord Siva offered him a choice of benedictions, and Sudaksina asked for a means to kill the one who had slain his father. Lord Siva advised him to worship the Daksinagni fire with black magic rituals. This Sudaksina did, with the result that a fearsome demon with a body of flames appeared from the pit of the sacrificial fire. The demon rose up carrying a fiery trident and at once set off for Dvaraka.

The residents of Lord Krsna's capital became terrified as the demon approached the city, but Lord Krsna assured them of protection and dispatched His Sudarsana cakra to oppose the magic creation of Lord Siva. The Sudarsana overpowered the demon, who then returned to Varanasi and burned Sudaksina to ashes, together with his priests. The Sudarsana disc, following the demon, entered Varanasi and burned the entire city to the ground. Then the Lord's disc returned to His side in Dvaraka

Now as Asthikas what we need to be careful about is, Paundraka by his constant remembrance of the Lord though in a devious way attained Moksha. But his followers are doomed to oblivion as their full focus is on an impostor. So think a hundred times before chosing your faith.

Krishnamachari Santhanam

Arjuna Vishada Yoga

"Fix thy thought on Me; be devoted to Me; worship Me; do homage to Me; thou shalt reach Me. The Truth do I declare to thee; for thou art dear to Me. This is my teaching, My grace." "This is the path to come to Me. Give up all Dharmas; surrender to Me; do not grieve; I shall liberate you from the consequences of all your acts."
Ah! Note the meaning and significance of these two stanzas. Is not this act of surrender enough to save you and to liberate you from the round of coming to - staying in - and leaving from this world?
#Arjunavishadayoga #srikrishna #saibagwathgithavahini

Makar Sankranthi

Sankranti is celebrated since last 6000 years, as archeological findings in Latin America prove that the Mayans celabrated something similar to Sankranthi with Pongal, Pala kayalu, as some kind of spring festival.

Sankranti is the Sanskrit word, which refers to the transmigration of the Sun from one Rāshi(zodiac in Indian astrology) to the other. Hence there are 12 such sankrantis in all. However, the Sankranti festival usually refers to Makara Sankaranti, or the transition of the Sun from Dhanu rashi (Sagittarius) to Makara rashi (Capricorn).

For this purpose, the Zodiac signs are considered sidereally, and not tropically, as in western astrology, thus not accounting for the Earth's precession. The festival therefore takes place around 21 days after the tropical winter solstice (between December 20 and 23rd) that marks the starting of Uttarayana, which means northward journey of Sun.

Considering the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day. Scientifically, the shortest day of the year is around December 21–22 after which the days begin to get longer, hence actual Winter Solstice begins on December 21 or December 22 when the tropical sun enters Makara rashi. Hence actual Uttarayana is December 21. This was the actual date of Makar Sakranti too. But because of the Earth's tilt of 23.45 degrees and sliding of Equinoxes, Ayanamasha occurs. This has caused Makara Sankranti to slide further over the ages. A thousand years ago, Makar Sankranti was on December 31 and is now on January 14. Five thousand years later, it shall be by the end of February, while in 9000 years it shall come in June.(Wikipedia)

While the traditional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions, Sankranti is a solar event. So while dates of all Hindu festivals keep changing as per the Gregorian calendar, the date of Makar Sankranti remains constant over a long term, 14 January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of Magha.

Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of India. According to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn or from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana, in the month of Poush in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest season and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The movement of the earth from one zodiac sign into another is called Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the Indian context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year.

Makar Sankranti, apart from a harvest festival is also regarded as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian culture. It is said as the 'holy phase of transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December. It is believed that any auspicious and sacred ritual can be sanctified in any Hindu family, this day onwards. Scientifically, this day marks the beginning of warmer and longer days compared to the nights. In other words, Sankranti marks the termination of winter season and beginning of a new harvest or spring season.

All over the country, Makar Sankranti is observed with great fanfare. However, it is celebrated with distinct names and rituals in different parts of the country. In the states of northern and western India, the festival is celebrated as the Sankranti day with special zeal and fervor. The importance of this day has been signified in the ancient epics like Mahabharata also. So, apart from socio-geographical importance, this day also holds a historical and religious significance. As, it is the festival of Sun God and he is regarded as the symbol divinity and wisdom, the festival also holds an eternal meaning to it.