Makar Sankranti marks the end of the winter with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. It is known by various names in different parts of the country. Bonfires, an important part of the festivities, were lit as families danced to the tunes of famous festival songs.
People mark the occasion by offering prayers and paying obeisance to Surya bhagwaan (Sun God), seeking blessings for abundant harvest.
Makar Sankranti also known as Maghi, is a Hindu festival, which is celebrated across India in different cultural forms, with great devotion and fervour. The festival, which marks the start of longer days, is usually celebrated in the second week of January.
The harvest festival of Pongal is celebrated with enthusiasm across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry, with the celebrations also marking the onset of the Tamil month of 'Thai', seen as a harbinger of good times.
It is a four-day harvest festival celebrated with great zeal in southern parts of the country, especially in Tamil Nadu.
People celebrate the festival by donning new clothes and preparing sweet rice of 'pongal' in the 'pongal panai' (pongal pot), buy sugarcane and offer prayers amid traditional chants of 'Pongal-o-Pongal' that symbolises growth and prosperity.
'Magh Bihu' is when the annual harvest takes place in Assam. People celebrate Rongali Bihu to mark the beginning of the Assamese new year and the end of the harvest season.
Younger people visit elders in the family and seek their blessings. Elders give Bihuwan – the traditional Assamese towel known as gamocha – and bless the younger lot for good health and prosperity.
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