Makar Sankranti 2023: From flying kites to taking holy dip, here is how India is celebrating the harvest festival

Makar Sankranti 2023: Check out how the auspicious Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti is being celebrated in different parts of the nation. ...read more

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Makar Sankranti is one of the major festivals celebrated with much grandeur in India and holds great significance for Hindus. This year the festival will be celebrated on January 15, 2023. It is considered auspicious for tenacity, worship, charity and sacrifice in the scriptures. Every part of the nation has its own customs and celebrates the harvest festival in a distinctive manner. Check out how the annual harvest festival is being celebrated in different parts of India. (HT Gallery)

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Devotees taking holy baths in the Ganga river on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, in Varanasi. On the early morning of Makar Sankranti, bathing is regarded as a sacred ritual that cleanses a person of his sins and gives good fortune and health.(PTI photo)

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A man flies multiple kites on a string during the Makar Sankranti, in Agra on Saturday. The Kite Festival, also known as Makar Sankranti, is widely observed in India. Kite flying is a popular way for people to welcome spring. (ANI/Yatish Lavania)

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Women devotees worshipping Lord Sun through Surya Puja near Ganga ghat in Patna. The festival of Makar Sankranti, also known as Sankranthi, honours the Sun God Lord Surya and commemorates the sun's entry into the Capricorn zodiac sign (zodiac sign). (PTI photo)

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On the eve of Makar Sankranti, on January 13, 2023, during the yearly traditional fair of Magh Mela in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, tents set up for worshippers blanket the banks of the Sangam, confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and legendary Saraswati. During the month-long event, hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims are anticipated to take a dip in the confluence in an effort to wash away sins.(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh))

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Devotees and sadhu ritual during the Gangasagar Mela on Makar Sankranti, in Kolkata on Saturday. India's second-largest pilgrimage gathering, after the Kumbh Mela, is considered to be the Gangasagar Mela, which takes place around Makar Sankrati (middle January). At Sagar Island's southern edge in West Bengal, it attracts hundreds of devotees who come across to seek righteousness throughout the winter months of the year.(Shyamal Maitra)

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Hindu pilgrims pray after taking a ritualistic bath in Hooghly River on the occasion of Makar Sankranti festival, in Kolkata on Sunday. In honour of the Sun God, people pay homage throughout the event. Gayatri Mantra and Surya Mantra are recited in addition to Lord Sun devotion through Surya Puja and Lord Shani. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)