Sun’s Journey.

the first major festival in the month of January is Makar Sankranti, Lohri or PongaL According to the lunar calendar, the sun transits from the Tropic of Cancer into the Tropic of Capricorn from Dakshinayana into Uttarayana in the month Poush in mid-January. The sun thus begins to face the northern hemisphere of the earth.

Makara Sankranti marks the commencement of the sun's journey to the Northern Hemisphere (Makara raasi), signifying the onset of Uttarayana Punyakalam, and is a day of celebration all over the country. The day begins with people taking holy dips in the waters and worshipping the Sun.

In Karnataka, men, women and children attired in colourful tunics visit friends and relatives and exchange pieces of sugarcane, a mixture of fried til, molasses, pieces of dry coconut, peanuts and fried gram. The significance of this exchange is that sweetness should prevail in all the dealings. As part of the festival, cows and bulls are given a wash and the horns are painted with bright colours and decorated with garland, and are taken in a procession in the village to the accompaniment of pipes and drums. In the night a bonfire is lit and the animals are made to jump over the fire.

It is a big event for the Tamils and the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugus like to call it 'Pedda Panduga', meaning big festival. The whole event lasts for four days, the first day Bhogi, the second day Sankranti, the third day Kanuma and the fourth day,Mukkanuma.

One month preceding Sankranti is called Dhanurmasam and is also an auspicious period. People wake up early, take bath and go around the streets singing devotional songs. Houses are whitewashed and farmers clean their warehouses. Colourful rangoli (muggulu) are drawn in the front yards of every house during this month. These artistic floral designs are drawn on the floor with rice flour or fine powder from limestone. These patterns are decorated with marigold placed on cow dung balls. Colourfully dressed young girls go round them singing songs