Introduction

All religious festivals are intended to be celebrated in a spiritually correct way so as to derive spiritual benefits from them. However, over a period of time, the local customs influence the celebrations. According to the rule that ‘customs have more impact on people than the Scriptures;’ humans emulate others blindly and celebrate festivals in their own way. Thus Makar Sankranti is celebrated differently in different parts of Bharat (India).
In this article, we will explain the spiritual science underlying the celebration of Makar Sankranti, which we hope will motivate our readers to celebrate it in the spiritually correct way.

Importance of Makar Sankranti

1. Worldly importance

In Bharat, Makar Sankranti is celebrated to let go of our differences with each other and increase love (prembhav) in us. One way people come close together on this day, is by distributing sweets to each other. These sweets are typically made of sesame seeds.

2. Spiritual importance

a. On Makar Sankranti from sunrise to sunset, the environment is full of Chaitanya. Thus, a seeker doing sadhana (spiritual practice) can derive the maximum benefit of the increased Chaitanya. Due to the Chaitanya, tejtattva (Absolute Fire Principle) also increases in seekers.

b. The day of Makar Sankranti is very conducive for sadhana.

Spiritual significance of sweets made out of sesame seeds

a. Before distributing sweets made out of sesame seeds, they should be kept in front of an  idol or a picture of a Deity on one’s altar. This helps retain the Shakti (Divine Energy) and Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) in the sweets.

b. When distributing sweets made of sesame seeds,  bhav (spiritual emotion) and Chaitanya is awakened in us.

c. All the members of the house derive the benefit of the increased Chaitanya in the environment.

d. The prembhav (love) in people increases and they are able to overcome negative thinking and replace it with positive thinking.

e. According to Ayurveda, eating sesame seeds in winter is beneficial for our health. Spiritually, sesame seeds and sesame oil have the ability to absorb and emit Sattva frequencies more than any other oil. Hence, during Makar Sankranti, sesame seeds are favorable for good sadhana (spiritual practice) to happen.

f. Importance of sesame seed sweets: Sesame seeds have the ability to absorb and emit high amounts of Sattva frequencies. By consuming sesame seed sweets, inner purification happens which helps improve one’s sadhana. By distributing these sweets to each other, there is an exchange of sattvikta, which helps increase everyone’s sattvikta.

Hindu festivals are great opportunities to imbibe the increased amount of positive energy and Deities’ principle in the environment. However this is possible only if one celebrates the festivals as per the guidance of Hindu Dharma. By adhering to Dharma we can derive the maximum benefit of each festival thereby purifying ourselves as well as the environment.