India celebrates Makar Sankranti today, i.e., on 15 January. Known as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Maghi (Lohri is celebrated on 13 January) in Punjab, Bihu in Assam, Uttarayana in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the harvest festival is celebrated in different ways in different states.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand,Goa, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh celebrate the festival as Makar Sankranti. This festival is also quite popular in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
It also marks the start of grand melas (fairs) in the country, especially Uttar Pradesh, of which the most popular is Kumbha Mela. Interestingly, Makar Sankranti is one of the few Indian festivals that falls on the same day every year, according to the Gregorian calendar.
Twitter and Facebook are filled with Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bihu and Uttarayana wishes. Even, several Bollywood celebs including Sridevi, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal have wished their fans on Twitter. Below are the tweets:
Aamir Khan
Wishing everyone a very happy Makar Sankranti!!! Flying kites is one of my childhood passions! Love. a.
Paresh Rawal
Wishing all my Indian citizen a happy MakarSankranti .
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
May the kite of your hopes and positivity fly high up and have the strength to fight adverse winds:)HAPPY SANKRANTI, PONGAL and BIHU to all
Sridevi
Wish you all a very Happy Pongal & Makar Sankranti. May this year bring prosperity, peace and happiness to all.
Anil Kapoor
Kai Po Che!! Let your kites & hearts soar high in the sky this #MakarSankranti :)
Amitabh Bachchan
T 2112 - Happy Makarsankranti .. kites fly mostly in Gujarat on this auspicious day .. love
Farah Khan Ali
Happy Lohri, and Happy Makar Sankranti to one and all.
Dia Mirza
Happy #Lohri2016 and #MakarSankranti :) May the fruit of thought and action blossom with love â¤ï¸
Digangana Suryavanshi
Wish u all a very happpyyy Makar Sankranti!! Til gud ghya aadi gooood gooood bola!
Siddharth
Pongal Nalvaazhthukkal & Sankranthi Subhakankshalu... Health, happiness, peace and prosperity to us all. Live and help live. Lots of love:)