Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri for Kids: One Harvest, Many Names

In the middle of January, something remarkable happens across India. In Gujarat the sky fills with kites. In Tamil Nadu pots of rice and milk boil over in front of homes. In Punjab families gather around bonfires the night before. In Maharashtra children hand out sesame sweets and say speak sweetly. In Assam there are feasts and bonfires of their own. It all looks completely different, and yet it is, in a sense, the same festival.

This is the season of Makar Sankranti, and it is one of the best festivals for showing children how one idea can take many forms across India.

What Makar Sankranti means

Sankranti means the moment the sun passes from one zodiac sign, or rāśi, into the next. There is a sankranti every month. But Makar Sankranti, when the sun enters Makara, Capricorn, in the Indian sidereal calendar, is the most important of them all.

Most Indian festivals follow the moon, so their dates move around from year to year. Makar Sankranti follows the sun, which is why it falls on almost the same date every year, usually 14 or 15 January. It also marks the beginning of the season the tradition calls Uttarayana, the sun’s northward journey, when the days begin to grow longer. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma, lying wounded on his bed of arrows, chose to wait for Uttarayana before leaving his body, which shows how auspicious this time was considered.

Above all, it is a harvest festival: a time to thank the sun, the land, the cattle and the farmers for the food that keeps everyone alive.

Pongal in Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu the festival is Pongal, and it lasts four days. Bhogi, the first day, is for clearing out the old: homes are cleaned and old things discarded, often in a bonfire. Thai Pongal, the main day, falls on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai. Families cook pongal, rice boiled with milk and jaggery, in a new pot outdoors, often decorated with turmeric plants. When it boils over, everyone shouts Pongalo Pongal! The overflowing pot is a sign of abundance in the year to come.

Mattu Pongal, the third day, honours cattle, who help with farming. Cows and bulls are bathed, their horns painted and decorated with bells and flowers. Kaanum Pongal, the fourth, is for visiting family and friends and going on outings.

Lohri in Punjab

In Punjab and much of North India, Lohri is celebrated on the night before Makar Sankranti. Families and neighbours gather around a large bonfire, throw in sesame seeds, peanuts, popcorn and rewri, a sesame and jaggery sweet, and sing and dance the bhangra and gidda. Lohri is especially big for families celebrating a new baby or a wedding that year.

Children go from house to house singing Lohri songs and collecting treats. The most famous song, Sunder mundriye, remembers Dulla Bhatti, a Punjabi folk hero who, according to the legend, rescued girls from being sold and arranged their marriages. It is a lovely story to tell alongside the song, and fair to present as a folk legend.

Uttarayan kites in Gujarat

In Gujarat Makar Sankranti is called Uttarayan, and it is a festival of kites. From dawn, rooftops are crowded with families flying kites of every colour, and the air rings with shouts of kai po che! when someone cuts another’s kite string. Ahmedabad hosts an international kite festival around this time. Families eat undhiyu, a mixed vegetable dish, and chikki, a peanut or sesame brittle.

Til-gul in Maharashtra and Karnataka

In Maharashtra people exchange til-gul, sweets made of sesame and jaggery, and say til gul ghya, goad goad bola: take this sesame and jaggery, and speak sweetly. It is a lovely custom for children, a reminder to make up with anyone you have quarrelled with and start the new season with kind words.

In Karnataka there is a similar custom called ellu-bella, a mix of sesame, jaggery, coconut, peanuts and fried gram that is shared with neighbours along with sugarcane. Cattle are decorated here too.

Many other names

In Assam the harvest is celebrated as Magh Bihu, also called Bhogali Bihu, with feasts and community bonfires. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the festival is often called Khichdi, after the dish eaten and given away on this day. In West Bengal it is Poush Sankranti, celebrated with sweets called pithe. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana it is Sankranti, a three-day festival with colourful rangoli called muggulu. At Sabarimala in Kerala, the Makaravilakku is a major pilgrimage around this day.

Kites, bonfires, boiling pots and sesame sweets: every region says thank you to the sun in its own way. That is what makes India’s festivals so rich.

Why sesame and jaggery?

Sesame and jaggery appear in almost every region’s Sankranti food: rewri in Punjab, chikki in Gujarat, til-gul in Maharashtra, ellu-bella in Karnataka, til laddoo in many homes. Families often say these are warming foods for the cold season. Some families also say that sesame seeds stick together when combined with jaggery, just as people should stick together.

Celebrating with children

Make a small map of India together and mark how each region celebrates. Make til laddoos or chikki at home. Fly a kite if you can, choosing a cotton string rather than the sharp, glass-coated manja that injures birds. And on the morning of Sankranti, step outside with your child, face the sun, and simply say thank you.

If your child enjoys discovering how India celebrates, our live Indian culture classes travel through the festivals of every region, with their stories, songs and foods.