Makar Sankranti - Jholi Utsav

Makar Sankranti, the Festival of Kites, is popularly known as Uttarayan. Uttarayan is a combination of two Sanskrit words, ‘uttar’ meaning north and ‘ayan’ meaning movement towards. Uttarayan occurs on Posh Vad Pancham and celebrates the sun’s northward movement. Since the northern direction is considered sacred, the time span in which the sun moves from one zodiac to another is considered auspicious. Dan, or the act of donating, is given great importance on this day. Hindus go to mandir and donate grains, other food items, and money for punya.