Makar Sankranti is a day of great significance and marks the beginning of auspicious times. The beginning of the period, when the sun travels northwards, is considered highly favorable for auspicious activities. It is celebrated as Pongal in the South, but in the North it is observed as Makar Sankranti. On this day, thousands of devotees take a holy dip in the Ganges and other holy streams. At Ganga Sagar, where the river Ganga enters the sea, a grand fair and festival is held on this day. Devotees in large numbers reach the Sagar Island in boats, and bathe there at a point where Ganga meets the sea. There, the pilgrims also visit the Ashram of sage Kapil, who according to our Puranas had burnt to ashes the sixty thousand sons of the King Sagar of Ayodhya. These sixty thousand dead princes were subsequently revived and made to ascend to heaven by the sacred waters of Divine Ganga, as She flowed over their ashes.
Makar Sankranti is also known as 'Jagadguru Divas' and is extremely special and important to the followers of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj as on this day, in 1957, our beloved spiritual master, at only 35 years old, was conferred in Varsanasi with the highest title 'Jagadguru' by the Kashi Vidvat Parishat, an apex body of all the supreme scholars and masters of India of the time.
Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend this enlightening event at the Hindu Worship Society Temple in Houston, and to listen to Swami Nikhilanand's speech on this auspicious occasion, or to forward this message to friends and family in Houston Texas and surrounding areas.
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