Uttarayana

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For the kite-flying festival, see
Makara Sankranti. For the 2004 film, see Uttarayan (film)
.
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The term Uttarāyaṇa (commonly Uttarayanam) is derived from two different Sanskrit words – "uttaram" (North) and "ayanam" (movement) – thus indicating the northward movement of the Sun. In the Gregorian calendar, this pertains to the "actual movement of the sun with respect to the earth."

precession of the equinoxes, i.e. this difference is the difference between the sidereal and tropical zodiacs. The Surya Siddhanta bridges this difference by juxtaposing the four solstitial and equinoctial points with four of the twelve boundaries of the rashis.[2]

The complement of Uttarayana is

Makara Sankranti as per the sidereal zodiac and between the summer solstice and winter solstice as per the tropical zodiac.[1]

Difference between Uttarayana and Makara Sankranti

There is a common misconception

Panchanga makers like mypanchang.com, datepanchang, janmabhumi panchang, rashtriya panchang [4] and Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika use the position of the tropical Sun to determine Uttarayana and Dakshinayana.[5]

Uttarayana in various treatises

Surya Siddhanta

Mayasura, the composer of

Makara Sankranti (which currently occurs around January 14) and Karka Sankranti (which currently occurs around July 16).[2][1] Lātadeva describes this as half revolutions of the Sun, using the terms Uttarayana and Dakshinayana to describe the "northern and southern progress" respectively.[6] Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a scholar and mathematician, proposes an alternative, early vedic definition of Uttarayana as starting from Vernal Equinox and ending with Autumnal Equinox.[7][8] This definition interprets the term "Uttara Ayana" as "northern movement" instead of "northward movement", i.e. as the movement of the Earth in the region North of the Equator. In support of this proposal, he points to another tradition that the Uttarayana is considered the daytime of the Gods residing at the North Pole which tradition makes sense only if we define Uttarayana as the period between the Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes (when there is Midnight Sun
at the North Pole). Conversely, Dakshinaya is defined as the period between the Autumnal and Vernal Equinoxes, when there is midnight sun at the South Pole. This period is also referred to as Pitrayana (with the Pitrus (i.e. ancestors) being placed at the South Pole).

Drik Siddhanta

Illustration of the movement of the Sun north and south of the Equator, caused by axial tilt of the Earth.
Illustration of the observed effect of Earth's axial tilt.

This festival is currently celebrated on the 14th or 15 January but due to

axial precession of the Earth it will continue to shift away from the actual season. The season occurs based on tropical sun (without ayanamsha). The Earth revolves around Sun with a tilt of 23.44 degrees. When the tilt is facing the Sun it is defined as summer and when the tilt is away from the Sun it is called winter. That is the reason when there is summer north of the equator, it will be winter south of the equator.[9] Because of this tilt, the Sun appears to travel north and south of the equator. This motion of the Sun transitioning from south to north is called Uttarayana (the Sun is moving towards north). Once the Sun reaches north, it begins moving south and is called Dakshinayana – the Sun is moving towards south.[10]
This causes seasons which are dependent on equinoxes and solstices.

Hindu Scriptures

Uttarayana is referred to as the day of new good healthy wealthy beginning. In the Mahabharata, this day marks the death of Bhishma. Bhishma had the ability to choose the time of his death and although mortally wounded in war, he chose to delay his death until uttarayan.[1] According to the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, those who die when the Sun is on its northward course (from south to north) attain nirvana.[11] This explains the choice made by Bhishma to wait until Uttarayana to die.

According to the Hindu tradition the six month period of Uttarayana is equivalent to a single day of the Gods, while the six month period of Dakshinayana is equal to a single night of the Gods. Thus a year of twelve months is single day of the Gods. This refers to the six months of single day at the North pole and concurrent six months of night at the south pole.[12]

Rituals

During the Uttarayana, devotees often undertake certain rituals to benefit during the auspicious time. Devotees often take part in pilgrimages to bathe in Prayag, where the Yamuna, Ganga and Saraswati rivers meet.[6]

Pongal is celebrated as a harvest festival in the southern states of India like Tamil Nadu. Although rituals and customs may vary, it is generally celebrated as a four-day festival. On the first day, unwanted household items are discarded and burned in bonfires to symbolize starting anew. The second day, people dress in new clothes and prepare pongal, a sweet dish that is made of rice, milk and jaggery, and offer it to Surya, the Hindu sun deity. On the third day, cattle are worshipped because they are seen as a symbol of prosperity. And, on the last day, some regions host bull-fighting and farmers offer prayers for the new, fresh harvest.[13][14]

Known as Lori in the northern states, children go door-to-door asking for sweets and money, and in the evening, people gather around huge bonfires to sing, dance, and make offerings to Agni, the fire deity, for future prosperity. Traditional dishes made from flatbread and mustard leaves are shared with offerings of sesame brittle, peanuts, popcorn, and jaggery. It is celebrated in other North Indian states like Haryana, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh.[15][16]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8
    .
  2. ^ a b Burgess, Ebenezer (1858). The Surya Siddhantha - A Textbook of Hindu Astronomy. American Oriental Society. Chapter 14, Verse 7-9.
  3. ^ Makara Sankranti and Uttarayana misconception and Panchanga Siddhanta
  4. ^ Rashtriya Panchang
  5. ^ Date and time for winter solstice marking the start of Uttarayana
  6. ^ a b Burgess, Ebenezer. Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; With Notes, and an Appendix. George P. Putnam - Journal of the American Oriental Society. p. 249.
  7. The Orion, or, the Antiquity of the Vedas
    . pp. 26–31.
  8. ^ "Bal Gangadhar Tilak | Biography, Books, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  9. ^ US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "Why Do We Have Seasons?". www.weather.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  10. ^ Venkateswaran, T.V (2020). Heavenly Bodies, Celestial Phenomena and Calendrical Data in Tamil Epigraphical Inscriptions (Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries). Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 436–437.
  11. ^ "Chapter 8, Verse 23-26 – Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God – Swami Mukundananda".
  12. ^ Surya Siddhanta, edited by Rev. Burgess, Sutra 13 and 14 of chapter 1
  13. ISBN 978-1-4729-3848-0
    .
  14. ISBN 978-1-4387-7460-2
    .
  15. ISBN 9788178357218
    .
  16. ISBN 9781610694124
    .

External links

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