Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Holy dip in Kshipra, Arghya to Sun God and donations to the poor marked Makar Sankranti celebrations here on Sunday. With the Sun entering Capricorn at 8.50 pm on Saturday, the Sankranti transition period had started.
Lord Mahakal was bathed with hot water by applying ubtan made of sesame seeds during the Bhasma Aarti in the early hours of the Makar Sankranti festival in the Mahakaleshwar temple. Baba Mahakal. was adorned with ornaments, dry fruits, and bhang. Aarti was performed after offering dishes made of sesame to the deity.
Amid the bitter cold, hundreds of devotees had thronged the ghats to take holy dip in river Kshipa. They later offered dishes made of sesame, rice and pulses grains, blankets, woollen clothes to the needy people. Elaborate arrangements were made for bathing at Ramghat.
Due to the arrival of Narmada water in Kshipra, devotees also got the benefit of taking holy dip in the waters of two rivers.
Devotees visited Shri Mahakaleshwar temple after taking a holy dip in river Kshipra. There was a long queue of devotees outside the temple since morning. Officials said that since it was a weekend a large number of people from outside the city had come for the darshan. A long queue was seen on the temple premises and outside the laddu prasad counter.
Devotees also paid visits to other temples and offered charities to the poor. People also participated in kite flying events in the city.
A procession of Sun God being taken out from Navgrih Mandir |
PROCESSION OF SUN GOD TAKEN OUT
Shani Navagraha Temple resonated with chants of the Shankh Nad as the 51 Putra Suchak Batuk Brahmin, carrying the flag of the colours of different planets, took out a procession to mark the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Sunday.
When the procession reached Triveni Ghat, Pandit Shailendra Trivedi and Prashant Vyas performed religious rituals chanting mantras of Aditya Hridaya Strota. The rites symbolised the meeting of the father and son i.e. Sun and Saturn. Later a hawan chanting mantras from Shani Surya was performed.
Surya Dev’s Sawari procession was attended by Mahamandaleshwar Swami Premanand Puri Maharaj and Bal Yogi Umesh Nath of Valmiki Samaj. Member of Parliament Arun Firojia thanked Krishna Guru for efforts to convey the hidden message of festivals to the youth of the society.
Sun’s arrival in Uttarayan is a symbol of positive thinking: Dr Vyas
“Makar Sankranti is the festival of increasing light by reducing darkness. It promotes positive thinking by reducing our negativity,” Dr Harish Vyas said in a programme organised under Indian tradition on Makar Sankranti festival at Government Kalidas Girls College.
He said that this festival, which is celebrated with different names all over India, gives a wonderful spiritual vision. This festival of sesame and jaggery inspires us to eat nutritious food. The sesame is the symbol of purity. The more we rub it, the more its colour brightens, which shows that hard work enhances our purity and personality. This is the specialty of our Indian knowledge tradition that the system of season favoured food has been taken in India since ancient times, he added. Today the world is celebrating the International Year of Millets, but we Indians have been having millets-based food since ancient times. That's why today it is necessary that awareness should be spread in the society about the ancient knowledge tradition and the youth should be made aware.
Principal Dr Vandana Gupta motivated the college staff and students for the development of the college and gave best wishes on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. Dr Aruna Dubey conducted the proceedings while Dr Vandana Jain proposed a vote of thanks.
