Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti is a Hindu festival celebrated in almost all parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh in many cultural forms. It is a harvest festival that falls on the Magh month of the Nepali calendar (Hindu Solar Calendar).

Makar Sankranti marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path. The day is also believed to mark the arrival of spring in India and the Magh month in Nepal and is a traditional event. Makara Sankranthi is a solar event making it one of the few Hindu festivals which fall on the same date in the Nepali calendar every year: 14 January, with some exceptions when the festival is celebrated on 15 January.

Date and significance

Makar Sankranti is observed at the beginning of the Capricorn period under the sidereal zodiac, either 14 or 15 January, and signifies the arrival of the summer season.

Makar Sankranti and the Winter Solstice

Many Indians conflate this festival with the Winter Solstice, and believe that the sun ends its southward journey (Sanskrit: Dakshinayana) at the Tropic of Capricorn, and starts moving northward (Sanskrit: Uttarayaana) towards the Tropic of Cancer, in the Nepalese Hindu month of Poush] on this day in mid-January.

Song

A song is a single (and often standalone) work of music intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. Written words created specifically for music or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs in a simple style that are learned informally are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers for concert performances. Songs are performed live and recorded. Songs may also appear in plays, musical theatre, stage shows of any form, and within operas.

Shiva

Shiva (/ˈʃivə/; Sanskrit: Śiva, meaning "The Auspicious One", also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is one of the three major deities of Hinduism. Shiva is in the form of Vishnu and Brahma yet one with them. He is Anant, one who is neither found born nor found dead. He is the Parabrahman within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta Tradition, and "the Transformer".

At the highest level, Shiva is regarded as limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. Shiva also has many benevolent and fearsome forms. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya, and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.

The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his musical instrument. Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam. The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Makara

Makara may refer to:

Devotional Songs

Devotional Songs is a studio album by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party released in 1992.

Track listing

External links

Grooveshark streaming version of "Devotional Songs".