Makar Sankranti

Every year in January, it commemorates the end of the Winter season and the start of the new harvest season.

It's named after Lord Sun. In the Hindu calendar, it also refers to a certain solar day. The sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn, or Makar, on this auspicious day, signalling the end of the winter months and the start of longer days.

This is the first day of Magh's month. Every 80 years, the day of Sankranti is postponed by one day to compensate for the difference caused by the sun's movement around the earth. The sun begins its northward trip, or Uttarayan voyage, on Makar Sankranti. As a result, Uttarayan is another name for this celebration.