Makara Sankranti is one of the most celebrated festivals in India but astrologically, it is the day when Sun begins its movement away from the tropic of Capricorn and towards the northern hemisphere.
That is why we
Makara Sankranti is one of the most celebrated festivals in India but astrologically, it is the day when Sun begins its movement away from the tropic of Capricorn and towards the northern hemisphere.
That is why we notice Sun rising and setting slightly towards North-East and North-West respecitvely between mid-january to mid-july in every year.
This period is called Uttarayan in vedic terms and it means uttar(north)+ayan(movement) of sun.
The remaining 6 months are termed as dakshinayan which means south movement of sun.
Originally, this was celebrated as Winter Solstice in ancient India but later due to the fact that the solstices are continually precessing at a rate of 50″ / year due to the precession of the equinoxes, winter solstice now occurs at 21st december each year.
Surya Siddhantha bridges this difference by juxtaposing the four solstitial and equinotial points with four of the twelve boundaries of the signs.
In Vedas, Uttarayan is termed as day of gods (devas in heaven) and Dakshinayan is their night. This is very much similar to the 6 months day at north pole after winter solstice and 6 months night from summer solstice.
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).
Usually when Uttarayana starts, it is a start of winter. When equinox slides it will increase ayanamsha and Makar Sankranti will also slide. In 1000 AD, Makar Sankranti was on Dec 31st and now it falls on January 14th; after 9000 years Makara Sankranti will be in June.
It would seem absurd to have Uttarayana in June when sun is about to begin its ascent upwards i.e Dakshinayana. This misconception continues as there is not much difference between actual Uttarayana date of Dec 21 and January 14. However, the difference will be significant as equinoxes slide further.
Uttarayana is the day when the day is shortest on the ea