Makar Sankranti 2021: Things you should do on this day

New Delhi, Jan 11: Makar Sankranti 2021 or Maghi or simply Sankranthi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya (sun).

The festival that marks the beginning of a new season or called Maghi in the Hindu calendar, is all about celebrating with your family and friends flying kites and munching on some amazing delicacies.

The festivities associated with Makar Sankranti are known by various names, such as Maghe Sankranti in Nepal, Magh Bihu in Assam, Maghi (preceded by Lohri) in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, popular amongst both the Hindus and Sikhs, Sukarat in central India, Thai Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Ghughuti in Uttarakhand Makara Sankranti in Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal (also called Poush Sankranti) and Uttar Pradesh (also called Khichdi Sankranti) or simply as Sankranthi in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The festival of Makar Sankranti will be celebrated on January 14, 2021. The day is dedicated to Lord Surya where devotees take a dip in the river Ganges. It is also called the festival of harvest where especially farmers celebrate with full pomp and show.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated in different parts of the country with great fanfare.

Things you should do on this day

• Donate, black color cloth to the poor and needy people on Makar Sakranti.
• Make some puris (Fried small chapatti) in mustard oil and feed them to black dogs.
• On this day, you must distribute two equal parts of black sesame seeds.
• Donate one part of it and prepare a dish for self-consumption from the other part of black sesame seeds.
• Prepare Khichdi from Urad dal and offer as bhog to Lord Shani. You can consume khichdi after offering bhog only.
• Pray to the Sun god after taking a bath in the morning.
• It is a believed that people should spend maximum time under the sunlight to prevent off any infection.