Lohri is celebrated by lighting bonfires, hand warming, song & dance and sweets. It marks the end of winter and the coming of spring.

There are many folk legends associated with Lohri. The story of Dulla Bhatti is most popular. He was a rebel leader who lived in Mughal times. A Robin Hood kind of figure, he is said to have raided Akbar’s army to avenge the killing of his father and grandfather.

He used to rescue girls who had been forcibly taken away by local chieftains. To save one such girl he became her Godfather. He got her married on Lohri day.

Children used to go around house to house on Lohri singing the song “Dulle ne dhi vyahi ho! Ser shakar pai ho” (Dulla gave his daughter a kilo of sugar as a marriage gift). It was considered inauspicious not to give children sweets when they knocked.

Some believe that Lohri derives its name from the wife of Kabir Das who was called Loi. In rural Punjab, lohri is pronounced as Lohi. Some others suggest that the name comes from ‘Loh’, a thick iron sheet tawa used for making chapatis for community feasts.

Source: http://www.lohrifestival.org/origin-of-lohri.html ;

https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/living-culture/lohri-the-legend-of-dulla-bhatti

Picture Credit: Dulla Bhatti by Kishan Singh Arif

Gujarat celebrates Makar Sankranti as Uttarayan. As the sun enters the makar rashi, it begins its northward movement in the sky (uttara -ayan). This is considered auspicious.

The festivities are marked by kite flying. ‘Kai po che’ means ‘I have cut’ where one of the kite flyers uses his kite to cut off another flyer’s kite in the sky. Many believe that kite flying started to get people come out into the open in the winter sun, which is good for health. The government of Gujarat also holds an international kite flying competition in January.

Picture Credit: Image is from Wikimedia by Pradeep Kumar Chatte

Krishna asked the people of Braj to worship the Govardhan mountain instead of Indra. In retaliation, Indra sent down rain and thunder on the villagers. Krishna lifted the Govardhan mountain on his little finger to give refuge and outlast the rain and thunder. This is marked as Govardhan Puja just after Diwali. Indra realized his mistake and asked for forgiveness. Krishna granted him the boon that he would be worshipped on Bhogi day. The festival is sometimes called Indran for this reason.

The Andhra region is where Bhogi is most celebrated. It is supposed to signify new beginnings and the start of new accounts after closing the old. At dawn, people light bonfires with logs of wood, other solid-fuels, and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful, similar to Lohri celebrations in the North.

Source: https://templesinindiainfo.com/ .

Picture Credit: Wikimedia image shows former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu attending early morning Bhogi celebrations in an old age home in 2018.

Bhishma fell to Arjuna’s arrows on the 10th day of the war at Kurukshetra. But he had been granted a boon by his father to choose the time of his death. He chose the day of Uttarayan to leave his mortal self. He lay on a bed of arrows for almost a month till Uttarayan.

Uttarayan is when the sun starts its northward (uttar) journey (ayan) in the sky as observed by the human eye. The story also shows that Uttarayan has been considered auspicious by Indians from ancient times.

Source: www.festivalsofindia.in.

Picture Credit:

Picture Credit: Hoysala sculptures of Bhishma on a bed of arrows

Makar Sankranti marks the first day when the sun transits into the zodiac sign Makara (Capricorn), ruled by the planet Saturn or Shani.

Sanjana, Surya’s wife and Vishwakarma’s daughter, was unable to bear his radiance. So made a clone of herself, Chaya and went back to her maternal home. Chaya gave birth to Surya’s son, but he was born dark, reflecting the nature of Chaya. Surya suspected infidelity and refused to accept Shani. He showered Sanjana’s children with affection.

Shiva reconciled Surya with Shani. As a mark of reconciliation, Surya moves into the house of Shani on Makar Sankaranti.

Puranic stories were a good way to pass on scientific information (in this case astronomy) in an oral culture!

Source: www.festivalsofindia.in.

Picture Credit: Wikimedia image is of Shani dev.

Sweets made out of til (sesame) and gud (jaggery, sugar) are a staple of Makar Sankranti celebrations. Whether the sweet is in the form of laddoo, revdi, gajak, tilkut or chikki, it is sweetness personified. ‘Til, Gud Ghya Ni God God Bola’ means “eat til and gur and talk sweetly.”

According to Ayurveda, til and gur are the perfect ingredients to warm your body during winters. The oil released from til is instrumental in generating body heat and keeps the internal body temperature steady during winters. Legends suggest that til was blessed by Lord Yama and thus bestows health.

Source: Lecture by Prof Gauri Mahulikar – YouTube

Picture Credit: Image from Wikimedia is of til-gud laddoo

Tusu is a harvest festival in the rarh (red soil) part of eastern India. Throughout the month of Poush that precedes Sankranti, unmarried girls sing songs praising Tusu Maa. Only unmarried girls prepare & worship Tusu, married women are not allowed to participate. After cutting off all the paddy stacks, the last stack that remains in the field is called dinimai. This dinimai is Tusu.

The head of the family brings the dinimai from the agricultural field and on that same day the young girls establish Tusu. Over the years, the festival has become more about singing songs to Tusu Maa and not about worshipping Her. All religious communities of the tribal region celebrate and the Tusu songs are a distinct cultural marker of the community.

Source: https://www.sahapedia.org/festival-of-tusu-introduction.

Picture Credit: The image of Tusu celebrations is from https://utsav.gov.in/view-event/tusu-parab-1

The Indor copper plate inscription dated 465-66 CE mentions a sun temple at Indrapur in UP. It says the local guild of oilmen donated oil for worshipping the deity ‘Bhaskara’, with lamps. The Gupta emperor Skandagupta is attributed with this inscription. This is among the first references to a sun temple and the worship of a human image of the Sun God.

It uses a Vedic name ‘Bhaskara’ for the Sun God and the entire text is based on Vedic imagery of the sun. This inscription suggests that the anthromorphic tradition of sun worship was developing indigenously. Simultaneously Iranian forms of sun worship had become mainstream in the Gupta period. From 5th century CE onwards syncretic sun worship developed in India, incorporating both traditions.

Source: VC Srivastava, “Sun Worship in Ancient India.”

Picture Credit:
The Wikimedia image of Surya is from the Gupta period – notice the horses.

The Gaya region of Magadha was a great seat of sun worship. Many of the sun temples and images in this region have been made in the period of Pala-Sena kings who ruled over modern Bihar, Bengal & Bangladesh from 8th to 12th century CE.

Sun temples are still looked after by priests of the Sakadwipya (of Iranian origin) community. In this region, sun worship is strongly prevalent and the Chatth festival is celebrated on grand scale.

The Dakshinarka temple at Gaya is a living sun temple next to the famous Vishnupada temple with footprints of Vishnu. The pind daan to ancestors is made in the water tank next to the temple. It is said to have been constructed by Pratap Rudra, the last Kakatiya ruler of Warangal, in the 13th cent.

There are two other notable surviving sun temples in Gaya viz. Uttarka & Gayaditya temples.

Source:
Amar Jiva Locan, “Ancient Sun Temples in Gaya Region”, JSTOR

Picture Credit: Janardan Kumar, Google Images

Samba Purana narrates the story of Samba, the son of Krishna and Jambawati. He was a wild man who harassed Krishna’s wives. In anger, Krishna cursed him to have leprosy. Narada advised Samba to worship Surya as a cure. Samba constructed the great sun temple at Multan for this. But no priests were willing to come to his temple because of his reputation. In desperation, he invited eighteen family of Maga priests from Sakyadwipa (Iranian priests but we don’t know to which place Sakyadwipa refers to).
Samba Purana written down 5th cent CE onwards represents the most comprehensive document of the Surya tradition.

Source: VC Srivastava, “Sun Worship in Ancient India.”

Picture Credit: Wikimedia image is from Bhagvata Purana depicting Samba and other members of the family at the wedding of Krishna’s grandson.

Lord Shiva wanted his disciples to have food only once a month. He asked his bull Nandi to go down to the earth and convey this message to his disciples. It said, “Have an oil bath every day and food once a month.”

Nandi did the reverse, “Have food daily and take oil bath once a month.”

Shiva was furious about this mistake and cursed Nandi to stay back on Earth forever and help the farmers. This will help farmers produce enough food to eat every day. This is how Makar Sankranti came to be celebrated as a harvest festival. The second day of Pongal is Mattu Pongal where cattle are worshipped.

Source:
https://htschool.hindustantimes.com/editorsdesk/knowledge-vine/bhisma-krishna-and-shiva-how-are-they-connected-to-makar-sankranti.

Picture Credit: Wikimedia image by Priyadarshini Mohanraj shows Mattu Pongal celebrations.

The images of Surya wearing boots are seen at Konark & Modhera but not in Goa or in the South. They are explained as an Iranian influence on sun worship which is more prominent in North India.

Iran had a strong tradition of sun worship and from there it spread wide with the cult of God Mithra having a major following in the Roma empire. The Iranian form of sun worship is said to have entered India when the Achaemenian empire of Cyrus made inroads into North West India around 500BCE.

It got assimilated in the indigenous tradition by 5th cent CE. Various Brahmin communities with Iranian heritage still exist – Maga, Bhojaka & Sakyadwipa brahmins.

Stories emerged to explain the boots. Surya’s wife Saranyu couldn’t handle the sun’s heat and went back to her house. Surya followed her and in order to solve the problem, Saranyu’s father cut out some rays of the sun to reduce the heat. The boots are there to cover the cut out portions!

Source:
VC Srivastava, “Sun Worship in Ancient India”; Lecture by Prof Gauri Mahulikar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUEqBDWMulQ.
Pratishkedkar in Worldhistory.org.

Picture Credit: The image of Surya from Konark sun temple wearing boots