The word ‘Sankranti’ means the movement of the sun into Capricorn. On Makar Sankranti, the sun enters new zodiac-sign of Capricorn or Makara.

Most Hindu festivals are based on the lunar calendar, making the dates of festivals change every year. But Makar Sankranti is a festival which falls on the same day every year as it follows the solar calendar.

As Makar Sankranti is one of the oldest solstice festivals and falls on the equinox, day and night on this day are believed to be equally long. Post the festival, it is officially the beginning of spring. Indian summer and the days become longer, and nights shorter.

Makara Sankranthi is celebrated for three days. The first day is Bhogi. North india is known as Lohri.The second day is Sankrathi which is dedicated to worshipping Surya (the Sun god), varuna (the rain god) and Indra (king of gods). The third day is Kanuma which is dedicated to cleaning cows, farm animals and farm equipment and also offering prayers to them for helping with a successful harvest season.

Bhogi day starts with Bhogi manta (Bonfire) in the early hours of morning. People light a bonfire, offer prayers to fire god discarding outdated things and ideas and welcome new things and new ideas to prosper. In the evening Bommala Koluvu (arrangement of images of Gods, toys and dolls) is arranged at homes.

Second day is main festival – Sankranthi. Second day is for Sun’s way into Uttarayana or Northern Hemisphere which is celebrated as Makara Sankranti. People express gratitude and appreciation to the Hindu gods varunudu (god of rain), Indra (king of gods) responsible for ample amount of rainfall, plenty of harvest, wealth and prosperity. ‘Nadaswaram’ is played, to welcome Makara Sankranti, the onset of ‘Uttarayana Punyakalam’ when the Sun makes its journey to Northern hemisphere from Makara Rasi.

These three days the streets in South India look amazingly colorful with different designs of rangolis. Rangoli (Kolam, muggu) is an art of drawing with dots using dry rice flour. Women wakeup early in the morning to decorate their court yards. Neighbors and friends compete with each other in decorating the entrance with attractive rangoli and placing ‘gobbemmalu’ (small cow dung balls with flowers placed in the centre) as per tradition. Apart from the households, rangoli is also made outside shops and offices. Drawing kolam is considered auspicious. Several types of muggu designs are popular for Pongal. Apart from drawing lines, people also make twisted chains by linking one loop of the rangoli with the next, thereby forming wonderful designs. The art is also popular in other states, where it is known by different names. In Bengal, it is known as Alpana, while in Rajasthan, it is known by the name ‘Mandana’. People in Andhra Pradesh call it ‘Muggulu’, while in Maharashtra and Karnataka it is called ‘Rangoli’.

Sweets called nuvvula laddu, sakinalu, ‘ariselu’ and ‘bobattlu’ are made and offered to family and extended families. Pongali made of fresh harvest rice and jaggery is made. For this reason, in Tamil nadu it is called Pongal. Since Sankranti falls in winter, consuming sesame seeds mixed in jaggery is beneficial to keep body warm. Eating sesame and jaggery is believed to take away the bad elements from the minds and hearts of people. Sesame helps retain the Shakti (Divine Energy) and Chaitanya. It is known to eliminate sins if used in drinking water, bathing, applying til oil on the body and other uses. It is said sesame seeds have a greater ability to absorb and emit sattva (One of the three components in the universe, signified by purity and knowledge) frequencies.

Third day is Kanuma Panduga is basically known as Kanuma in telugu, Mattu Pongal in tamil, is an event of praying and showcasing their  cattle with honor. In olden days, Cattles are the sign of prosperity. Some of the reasons are using bulls for plough, using cow dung to build houses, used dung as a coating on walls every year and production of milk .

Union of families take place during the Sankranti event and specifically, sons-in-law holiday with their wife’s families.

The most eye-catching feature of Kanuma is procession of colorfully decorated bulls in the streets with sannai or nadaswaram music. ‘Gangireddu’ is a colorfully decorated processed in th village by its master who plays the ‘Nadaswaram’ during Sankranti. Bulls are trained to nod ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, kneel down and dance by ‘Yadava’ sect. The Gangireddu earn money, clothes and grains in return to the performance.