Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan or Maghi or simply Sankranti, also known in Bangladesh and West Bengal as Poush Sankranti, and in Nepal as Maghe Sankranti.

Saṅkrānti (सङ्क्रान्ति) is a Sanskrit word referring to the “first day of the solar month”. The word is used throughout Dharmaśāstra literature.

The name Sankranti is a general one given to the day on which the sun passes from one sign of the Zodiac (Rasi) to another; yet it has a restricted application and special reference to the day on which the sun enters the house called Makara (Capricornus) in the Tamil month of Tai corresponding to the English month January-February.
The occasion is called ‘Makara-sankranti’ though the Tamil-speaking people have given the festival day the name “Pongak Pandigai” for the reason that the newly harvested rice is first cooked and the preparation goes by the name “Pongal”.

Saṃkrānti refers to the “transference/transmission” (of power—the deity’s energy).

There are 12 saṃkrāntis (passages or transitions) in a year according to the 12 rāśis (zodiacs), and importance is attached to each of them. Makara-Saṃkrānti falls on January 13 or 14 while Karkaṭa-Saṃkrānti falls on July 15 or 16.

In Rajamārtaṇḍa, there are two ślokas on the benefit and religious merit of performing almsgiving and propitious acts on saṇkrānti—“The virtue of donation performed on Ayana-Saṇkrāntis is many times greater than the alms given on ordinary days […]”.
The importance of the (Makara-Saṇkrānti and Karkaṭa-Saṇkrānti) is ‘unparalleled’.
Uttarāyana is most preferred because it is situated in the path of the devayāna-mārga (the path to the world of Gods leading finally to emancipation or salvation).
Dakṣiṇāyana is less preferred because it lies on the pitṛyāna-mārga, the path to the world of ancestors leading to the eventual comeback into the world.

Saṃkrānti
Going together, union.
Passage from one point to another, transition.

The passage of the sun or any planetary body from one zodiacal sign into another.

Transference, giving over (to another);
Transferring or communicating (one's knowledge to another), power of imparting (instruction to another);
Image, reflection.

It’s celebrated as Uttarayan, Sankranti, Magha
Môkôr Sôngkrānti, Mela, Maghi
Ghughuti, Bhogi and Shishur Saenkraath (Kashmir) in India.
Songkran (Thailand), Thingyan (Myanmar), Mohan Songkran (Cambodia).

On Makar Sankranti the Sun god is worshipped along with Lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi throughout India.

Religious and cultural, harvest festival, welcome longer days, sun worship
Makar Sankranti is observed with social festivities such as colourful decorations, children visiting houses singing and asking for treats, melas (fairs), dances, kite flying, bonfires and feasts.

Makara Sankranti is regarded as very important for spiritual evolution and accordingly, people take a holy dip in rivers, especially Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
The bathing is believed to result in merit or absolution of past sins. They also pray to the sun and thank for their success and prosperity.

Every twelve years, the Hindus observe Makar Sankranti with Kumbha Mela – one of the world's largest mass pilgrimage, with an estimated 60 to 100 million people attending the event.

At this event, prayers are offered to the Sun, bathing at the Prayagaraj confluence of the River Ganga and River Yamuna, a tradition attributed to Adi Shankaracharya.
(The Magha Mela, is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata.)

The festival Sankranti is celebrated for four days.
Women decorate the entrance of their homes by geometric patterns (Kolam) drawn using colored rice flour, called Kola Mavu.

* Day 1 – Bhogi
* Day 2 – Sankranti the main festival day -Pongal
* Day 3 – Maattu Pongal
* Day 4 – Kaanum Pongal

Bhogi
Bhogi is the first day of the four-day festival. It is celebrated with a bonfire with logs of wood, other solid-fuels, and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful. In the evening, a ceremony called Bhogi Pallu, fruits of the harvest such as regi pallu and sugarcane are collected along with flowers of the season. Money is often placed into a mixture of treats and is poured over children. The children then collect the money and sweet fruits.
Sankranti - Pongal
The second and main day of the four-day festival, and is dedicated to the Surya, The Sun.
The day marks the start of the Uttarayana, when the sun enters the 10th house of the zodiac Makara.
It is commonly called as (Big festival). Day of Thanksgiving, festivities and celebration of Natures benevolence.

Maattu Pongal
The third day of the four-day festival, it is dedicated to the cattle and other domestic animals. The cattle is decorated, especially cows, they are offered bananas, a special meal and worshipped.
Kaanum Pongal
It is the fourth and last day of the four-day festival. Many families hold reunions on this day.

Flying kites, Symbolic of the message that if you are light within, grounded by the string of ancestral blessings, willing to trust and fly, aided by the five elements of Earth, Moisture, Fire(Sun), Air(favourable wind) and Space,
You can soar to any heights in life.

Pongal - literally the ‘overflow of abundance’ of natures goodness as food in the season of harvest of rice and sugarcane.

Sugarcane - ‘Ikshu kothandam’ the bow of nature is symbolic of being a beneficial energy provider (sugar), yet being yielding and flexible like a bow.
Knotted in-between, it denotes a natural portion control, with a message it is to be ‘shared’.
The earthen pot, detoxed by an overnight storage in water, rice from the new harvest, jaggery from palm or Sugar crystals (Kalkandu) from Sugarcane, ghee from the benevolent cow’s milk;
All these make Pongal unique in offering the seasons best to the eternal nourished Sun.

Surya puja in river, cooking Pongal;
Kite flying, Bonfire, Fairs, Feast; Art, Dance, Socialisation, Cow Pooja;
Singing, dancing;
Sharing, respecting, worshipping; all these are embedded in this festival of Sun’s northern journey.

Happy Bhogi, Pongal and Makara Sankranthi to all…