When is sankrAnti celebrated? If the sun lies in dhanuSh-rAshi at sunrise and only crosses over to makara afternoon (as is the case in 2018 relative to India time), is sankrAnti celebrated on that day itself or on the following day? What are the pramANa-s?
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The worship of the Sun is done, as per practice, when the sun starts its Uttarayan Journey. Normally in South India all poojas are performed in the forenoon. One of the exceptions is the Makara Sankaranthi Pooja. Sankaranthi would be celebrated on the day sun starts the Uttarayan Journey and not the next day. I am placing a comment, because I do not have any scriptural references handy. Would be glad for enlightenment on this subject.– Suresh RamaswamyJan 13, 2018 at 4:44
1 Answer
It's been rather tricky this time :). In general, we perform puja in Uttarayanam. As long as the sun transits over before sunset, the puja is done on the same day. This time, according to Srirangam Vakya Panchanga, it's approx. 17:05 IST (Drik Panchanga: 13:50 IST). We're doing the puja at ~3 pm IST, so that the puja will be over before Pradosha time (It's Pradosha day as well!). Whenever there are such complexities, it's just convenient to follow whatever the Purohit says!
Happy Sankranti! नमः सवित्रे जगदेकचक्षुषे!
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What ayanAmsha does Srirangam Vakya Panchanga use? Reminds me of twitter.com/ShriramanaS/status/949644728592580610 Jan 13, 2018 at 16:08