Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Magh Bihu 2024 dates: Complete list of winter harvest festivals celebrated across India

Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, and Magh Bihu are the winter harvest festivals celebrated across India. Know all about them inside.

India is the land of festivals. As the New Year begins, we prepare to welcome the first festivals of the season. With the first week of January already over, we will soon be celebrating the harvest festivals marked across India during the winter. The first crop yield during the New Year is a matter of joy and success for people in the country, and it is commemorated with vigour and pomp. The first harvest festivals of the year are Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, and Magh Bihu. If you are celebrating these important festivals, you should also know about them. So, we decided to compile a complete list of winter harvest festivals celebrated across India. Scroll down to read all about them.

People celebrate Makar Sankranti and Lohri in India. (File Photo)

Winter harvest festivals celebrated across India

Lohri

Lohri falls on January 13, Saturday, this year. It is popularly celebrated in Punjab, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. The Punjabi folk festival - also known as Lohadi or Lal Loi - marks the passing of the winter solstice and falls a day before Makar Sankranti. It also celebrates the arrival of warmer weather because after Makar Sankranti, a day after Lohri, the nights get shorter, and the days get longer. Hindu and Sikh communities mark this day by lighting bonfires outside their homes or in their courtyards with wood and cow dung. They offer sesame seeds, jaggery, gajak, rewdi and peanuts to the lit bonfire while doing Parikrama around it. They also harvest the crops and offer the bhog made using this new yield to the fire.

Makar Sankranti

The harvesting festival of Makar Sankranti comes after Lohri. This year, it is on January 15. It is dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun God) and marks the sun's transit into Makara (Capricorn) raashi (zodiac sign). People worship the new yield and share it with their loved ones. The festival is marked across the country. It is celebrated as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Khichdi in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Uttarayanan in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and Maghi in Haryana and Punjab. The festival lasts two to four days in most regions. during these days, people worship Lord Surya, go for a holy dip in sacred water bodies, perform charity by giving alms to the needy, fly kites, prepare sweets made of sesame and jaggery, and worship livestock.

Pongal

Pongal is from January 15, Monday, to January 18, Thursday. The four-day harvest festival coincides with the Tamil month of Thai. While Makar Sankranti is celebrated in North India, Pongal is observed in Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Sri Lanka. Pongal refers to a traditional dish, made of boiled rice, lentils, and sweeteners such as jaggery or sugar. It is offered to the gods as a form of gratitude for the bountiful harvest during the festival. The first day of the festival is called Bhogi Pongal, the second is Surya Pongal, the third is Mattu Pongal, and the fourth is Kannum Pongal.

Magh Bihu

Magh Bihu begins on January 16, according to Drik Panchang. The Sankranti harvest festival is celebrated in Assam. It marks the end of the harvesting season in the region. Magh Bihu is observed on the first day of Magh month as per the Bengali Panjika, and the celebrations last for a week. It is dedicated to Agni, the Lord of Fire. However, in the rest of India, the festival of Sankranti is dedicated to Surya, the Sun Lord. Meanwhile, the day preceding Magh Bihu is known as Uruka. On this day, people light the Meji and worship the fire. A key custom of the festivals is the building of Meji - a makeshift structure made of bamboo, thatch, and local raw materials.