Google doodle wishes Makar Sankranti

Bangalore, Jan 14: The internet giant Google once again surprised us with their new Google Doodle. On the day when nation celebrates Makar Sankranti, Google has painted kites and flying balloons on its search engine home page in India.

The harvesting festival, Makar Sankranti, was celebrated to mark the transition of the Sun into Makara rashi (Capricorn) on its celestial path. The Makar Sankrati is also regarded as the 'holy phase of transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December.

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.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated with distinct names and rituals in different parts of India. 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.

In Northern India, people offer thousands of their colorful oblations to the Sun in the form of beautiful kites. The act stands as a metaphor for reaching to their beloved God, the one who represents the best. Makar Sankranti identifies a period of enlightenment, peace, prosperity and happiness followed by a period of darkness, ignorance and viciousness with immense sorrow.

On this auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, OneIndia wish you all a Happy Makar Sankranti.

OneIndia News