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= Sankranthi and summer solstice =
= Sankranthi and summer solstice =
'''Ranjani Ranganathan ITfC'''<br>
Sankranthi wishes to all of you!!
Have you wondered about why the ascending movement of the sun (days getting longer - the traditional name ...uttarayana kalam meaning - the sun starts moving north) is celebrated on this day whereas the winter solstice is on Dec 22nd. And days start getting longer from then...
Of course, in some parts of India, it is also the harvest festival...
'''Rajesh YN''' Mallupura, Mysore<br>
It is interesting to know about the tilt and Makara sankranti. But I always wonder only this fest in India repeats on particular date. The other festivals are relative to Lunar Calender. What about this?
'''Radha Narve, Begur, Bangalore'''<br>
I reffered some sites and tried to answer .is that correct?
The traditional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions, Sankranti is a solar event. So while dates of all Hindu festivals keep changing as per the gregorian calender, the date of Makar Sankranti remains constant over a long term, 14 January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of magha. The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted .
'''Ranjani Ranganathan ITfC'''<br>
From what I understand, the sankranthi is based on sidereal time (calculated with respect to the stars). The movement of the sun with respect to the signs of the zodiac is what is talked about as sankranthi. There are 12 movements possible (12 zodiacal signs). The makara sankranthi is considered to be holy because of the ending of winter, harvest season in parts of India, ending of the NE monsoon, etc.
I also wondered about why it falls on the same day...
The Hindu calendar is also based based on the movement of the sun with respect to the stars (within a new moon - new moon cycle). Hence makar sankranthi always falls on a particular day of the lunar calendar though it is not calculated based on that. For example, in Tamilnadu is coincides with the beginning of the month of "Thai".
It is for this reason that some people believe lunar calendars are more accurate than the gregorian calendar (Jan- Dec).
The gregorian calendar is based on the equinox positions and this can change with earth's precession around its axis. For example, in 1903 , the date of the winter solstice was Dec 23rd and it is expected to be on Dec 20 in 2096
(Source - see link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar#Accuracy)
The solstice is based simply on the day and night changes of the sun with respect to the earth, based on the above method of calculation of equinoxes.
Over thousands of years, the position of the stars with respect to the earth has changed due to the precession of the earth. So, one theory is that the date of the sankranthi may have moved with respect to the Gregorian calendar.
(Source - see link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_of_equinoxes#Indian_views)
Sankranthi does not change with respect to the Indian calendar months because the lunar months also are based on sidereal calculations.
This is an interesting question and we need to find out more....interestingly, is this the only Indian festival based on this calculation?