Makar Sankrānti marks the sun’s transition into Capricorn (Makara Rāshi), symbolizing the start of a new harvest cycle. But there are 12 Rāshis…. so does that not mean there are 12 Sankrāntis? Yes, there are!
Each rāshi is a constellation in the sky visible from Earth. A Sankrānti is defined as the transit of the Sun from one Zodiac sign to the other during the course of a revolution of the Sun. Indian Astronomy, whose body of work is consolidated under Jyotisham, a Vedānga (meaning, a limb of the Vedās) views the Earth as stationary and tracks the movement of Grahās or celestial objects for calculations. This does not impact accuracy of the calculation as all celestial objects are in a constant state of motion and any number we calculate is merely a relative value. For example, with respect to the Earth, the Sun revolves. But with respect to the Sun, the Earth revolves. In reality, our entire solar system and the Milky way is in a state of motion! Special thanks to @starwalkapp for the visualization we are sharing below –
But you may wonder, if there are 12 Sankrāntis which constitute the basis for 12 months in a calendar, why do we calculate the Tithi of a Panchānga month based on phases of the Moon instead?
Well, for this, we need to understand that according to Jyotisham, there are 4 ways to calculate time for use in everyday life out of 9 total kinds that are possible. They are – Soura Māna (Solar based) , Chandra Māna (lunar based), Nakshatra Māna (Sidereal calendar), Sāvana Māna (seasonal calculations). This is documented in a short and sweet manner by Surya Siddhānta, excerpt highlighted below –
चतुर्भिः व्यवहारः अत्र सौरचन्द्रार्क्षसावनैः
Surya Siddhānta – 14 – 2 -1
संक्रान्त्या सौर उच्यते - Translation: The Sankrāntis are the basis of Soura Māna (Solar based time keeping). The time between each of the 12 Sankrānti marks a Solar month!
A comprehensive Vedic Gurukula System includes Shiksha on concepts of Jyotisham which would mean students would have an understanding of the different ways to calculate time – be it from Solar, Lunar, Nakshatra or combination. Unfortunately, modern Indian school syllabus still follows the Western template which is why an important festival such as Sankrānti is assumed to just be a harvest festival and the Astronomical significance of it is not taught in our schools even 70+ years after Independence.
Just think about it, from Assam (Bihu) to Punjab (Lohri) to South India (Pongal and Sankrānti) our Indic Knowledge system has kept the tradition of tracking Sun’s movement across the sky. The consolidation of such knowledge related to Astronomy is in the Vedānga of Jyotisham. If Jyotisham was taught in mainstream education, would it not have been obvious to all of us how we are all connected by the same knowledge systems and Paramparās despite linguistic differences?
Have you noticed that the Bengali New Year and Tamil New Year fall around the same time in April each year? Yes, you guessed it! It marks another Sankrānti.
In the year 2025, Tamil New Year will be celebrated on 14th of April… Bengali New Year will be celebrated on 15th of April… In fact, Songkran, a festival celebrated in Thailand is nothing but Sankrānti and in the same period, Songkran will be celebrated in Thailand from 13 Apr 2025 to 15 Apr 2025…
Now tell us in the comments! If 14 Jan 2025 is Makara Sankrānti, which Rāshi does the Sun enter (from perspective of Earth) on 14 April that is being celebrated by Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Thailand?
Why do we not celebrate the other Sankrāntislike we do theMakara Sankrānti ?
What if I told you that we do! For example, if you observe the festival of Bihu that is celebrated in Assam (erstwhile Kāmarupā), you will notice that there are in fact, multiple Bihus! Bohag Bihu which occurs in Gregorian April (Aligned with Tamil and Bengali New Year), Magh Bihu (Makara Sankrānti), and Kati Bihu (Kārtika Māsa Bihu of Gregorian October). Likewise, texts such as SuryaSiddhānta and Siddhānta Shiromani by Bhāskarāchārya mention significance of other Sankrāntis such as Vishnu Pada Sankrāntis – namely Mesha, Vrushabha, Simha, Vrishchika & Kumbha Sankrāntis which are days associated with worship of Lord Vishnu. There’s more! The period between MakaraSankrānti and KarkaSankrānti as per the sidereal calendar is what is known as Uttarayāna. Thus, Karka and Makara Sankrānti are known as Āyana Sankrānti. The Mesha and Tula Sankrāntis are associated with the 2 equinoxes.
Additionally, by calculating in iterations of 86 days starting from Tula Sankrānti, we arrive at a total of 344 days with 16 days pending in order to complete one Solar year. These 16 days mark the starting of the Pitru Paksha! That’s right! The Shad Asheeti (86) Sankrānti calculations also directly links us to the starting date for Pitru Paksha in the Kanyā Rāshi Paurnima (full moon). (Source: Dr Sreenivasa Sarma)
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