Guest guest Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Today is the most Sacred festival of Sankranthi a universal festival irrespective of their religion in India as it is mainly the festival of harvest on which the humanity depends for their basic survival. This is the day all humanity has to show their gratitude to Sun God, Mother Earth, Goddess Lakshmi and mostly to the farming community, GO Matha, etc. for what they give us to have good crops every year.Sankranthi is the day on which we all thank to all those who are responsible for our daily living. Makara Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervour & gaiety. Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar & Prayag and pray to the Surya Bhagawan. It is celebrated with pomp in southern parts of the country as Pongal,and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. It is a day for which Bhishma Pitamah kept waiting to leave his mortal coil. Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun God begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere. Surya stands for Pratyaksha-Brahman - the manifest God, who symbolises, the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one & all tirelessly. Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial Wheel of Time. The famous Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted everyday is directed to Sun God to bless them with intelligence & wisdom. Sun not only represents God but also stands for an embodiment of knowledge & wisdom. Lord Krishna reveals in Gita that this manifested divinity was his first disciple, and we all know it to be indeed a worthy one too. Makara means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition. There is a Sankranti every month when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, and thus there are twelve sankranti's as well. Each of these sankranti's has its own relative importance but two of these are more important - the Mesh (Aries) Sankranti and the most important, the Makar (Capricorn) Sankranti. Transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn, during the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is known as Makar Sankranti. From this day begins the six-month long Uttarayana, considered very auspicious for attaining higher worlds hereafter. While the traditional Indian Calendar is basically based on lunar positions, but sankranti is a solar event, so while dates of all festivals keep changing, the english calendar date of Makar Sankranti is always same, 14th January. There is another significance of this day, after this day the days start becoming longer & warmer, and thus the chill of winter in on decline. The great saviour of his ancestors, Maharaja Bhagiratha, did great Tapas to bring Mother Ganga down on the earth for the redemption of 60,000 sons of Maharaj Sagar, who were burnt to ashes at the Kapil Muni Ashram, near the present day Ganga Sagar. It was on this day that Bhagirath finally did tarpan with the Ganges water for his unfortunate ancestors and thereby liberated them from the curse. After visiting the Patala for the redemption of the curse of Bhagirath’s ancestors Gangaji finally merged in the Sagar. Even today a very big Ganga Sagar Mela is organised every year on this day at the confluence of River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal . Lakhs take dip in the water and do tarpan for their ancestors. The Puranas say that on this day Sun visits the house of his son Shani, who is the swami of Makar Rashi. These father & son do not ordinarily get along nicely, but in spite of any difference between each other Lord Sun makes it a point to meet each other on this day. Father in fact himself comes to his son's house, for a month. This day symbolised the importance of special relationship of father & son. It is the son who has the responsibility to carry forward his fathers dream and the continuity of the family It was on this day when Lord Vishnu ended the ever increasing terrorism of the Asuras by finishing them off and burying their heads under the Mandar Parvat. So this occasion also represents the end of negativity's and beginning of an era of righteous living. Please use the following links on Sankranthi day to celebrate with Surya Gayatri before sunrise and other Surya devotional songs, etc. Please click the link below to recite or listen Surya Gayatri just before Sunrise : http://msabhiblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/surya-gayatri-lyrics-video-aditya.html To listen to the Divine Adithya Hridayam and other songs of Surya Bhagawan, please click the link below again in Telugu : http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu/moviedetail.asp?mid=AD000021 Those of you to listen Lakshmi Sahasranamam, please click the link below : http://www.raaga.com/playerV31/index.asp?pick=67802,67803 & mode=3 & rand=0.8594030635465383 & bhcp=1 This year Maha Sivarathri is very special as it falls on Monday which is Lord Shiva's favourite day on February 23rd. Those who would like to perform the Shiva Diksha(41 days) have to start today on Sankranthi day. Om Sai Ram Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now. 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