2008 Calendar
2007
Monday 14th January 2008
Makar Sankrant
Makar Sankrant is known by different names and is celebrated differently depending on the region of India. In Punjab, northern India, the festival is called Lohri. To celebrate the end of the winter season, bonfires are lit. Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown on the bonfires and friends and relatives gather together.
In Gujarat and Maharashtra, it is a festival of the young and the old and kites are flown.
In Uttar Pradesh, this time is celebrated as Kicheri. It is considered important to have a bath on this day and masses of people can be seen bathing in the Sangam at Prayagraj where the rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswathi flow together.
Pongal, the harvest festival, is celebrated in Southern India. It lasts for 3 days: on the first day, rice boiled with milk is offered to the Rain God; on the second day, it is offered to the the Sun God and on the third day, the family cattle are given a bath and dressed with flowers, bells and colours. The cattle are honoured for their hard work.
