In India, we also worship the Sun, the greatest source of light and energy, on which depends the very existence of all the life on Earth. To offer prayers there are various Sun festivals in India. You can find some of the important Sun Festivals celebrated in India.

Makar Sankranti- Sun Festival in India

Makar Sankranti also known as Makara Sankranti is celebrated in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. The day marks the shift of the sun into ever-lengthening days. The festival is a seasonal observance as well as a religious celebration.

Makar Sankranti | Sun Festival in India

The festival Makar Sankranti is a solar event making it one of the few Hindu festivals which fall on the same date in local calendars every year: 14 January, with some exceptions when the festival is celebrated on 15 January.

Makar Sankranti is the festival of Til-Gud where sesame and jaggery laddoos or chikkis are distributed among all. Though extremely popular as Makar Sankranti, the festival is predominantly known as the Harvest Festival of India. 

South Indians celebrate this festival with other names. On the same date, the Tamil community celebrates this festival as Pongal, a 4 days long festival. Kerala celebrates this festival as one of the most austere and difficult pilgrimages of Sabarimala that ends on this auspicious day. 

North Indians, celebrate this festival with their own culture and traditions. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar celebrate Makar Sankranti as Maghi and Khichadi. Makar Sankranti generally marks the beginning of the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh. Punjab celebrates this festival as Lohri. Gujarat celebrates this festival as Uttarayan. Kite flying events are organized at various places to celebrate this festival. 

Other parts of the country too, celebrate by taking a dip in the holy rivers flowing through states to cleanse themselves of sins. It is also believed that if you die during Makar Sankranti, you are not reborn but go directly to heaven. Know more:- Makar Sankranti Celebration

Pongal- Sun Festival in India

Pongal is one of the Sun Festivals in India celebrated by the Tamil community. Pongal is also, one of the South Indian Famous Festival since this festival is widely celebrated in Tamil Nadu.

Pongal | Sun Festival in India

You can see the south Indian culture during the Pongal festival celebration. The four-day Pongal celebration thanking the Sun God for an abundant harvest is called as Pongal festival. Pongal is celebrated by boiling rice in milk and offered first to the gods, then to the cows, and then to family members.

The Pongal festival is celebrated for four days. The first day of the Pongal festival is called Bhogi. The second day of Pongal is an important celebration called the Pongal festival. The third day of Pongal is known as “Jallikattu”. The fourth day of Pongal is called “Kaanum Pongal”.  Know more:- Pongal Festival Celebration

Also Read:- Cultural Festivals in India 

Lohri- Sun Festival in India

Lohri is also considered one of the Sun festivals of India. It marks the beginning of the end of winter, the coming of spring, and the New Year. The festival is traditionally associated with the harvest of rabi crops.

Lohri -The Sun Festival of India

Lohri is essentially a festival dedicated to fire and the sun god. It means Lohri is also a Sun festival in India. It is the time when the sun transits the zodiac sign Makar (Capricorn) and moves toward the north. Gur Rewari, Peanuts, and Popcorn are the three munchies associated with this festival.

Besides these, in Punjab villages, it is a tradition to eat Gajak, Sarson Da Saag, and Makki Di Roti on the day of Lohri. It is also traditional to eat ‘Til rice’-sweet rice made with Jaggery (Gur) and sesame seeds.

Also Read:- Religious Festivals of India 

Ratha Saptami- Sun Festival in India

Ratha Saptami is also one of the Sun Festivals in India celebrated by the Hindu community. This festival is a Hindu festival that falls on the Seventh-day (Saptami) of the bright half of the Hindu month Maagha.  

This day is also known as Surya Jayanthi because it celebrates the power of the Sun God who is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu in his form as Surya is usually worshipped on this day.

Usually, Rathasapthami begins in households with a purification bath by holding a few calotropis leaves on one’s head and shoulders while bathing and chanting a verse that is supposed to invoke the benevolence of the Lord in that entire one takes up the rest of the year. It also involves doing a puja with the ritual ‘Naivedyam’, flowers, and fruits.

On this day at Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh), Lord Venkateswara (Balaji) is mounted on Seven Vahanas (Celestial Vehicles) one after the other starting from Suryaprabha Vahanam and ending with Chandraprabha Vahana.

Other Vahanas are Hanumad vahana, Garuda Vahana, Pedda Sesha Vahana, Kalpavruksha vahana and Sarva Bhoopala vahana. Also chakrasnanam is performed on the same day.

A devotee enjoys watching the Lord mounted on different vahanas in one day which is popularly known as Oka roju Brahmotsavam (Single day celebrations).

Chhath Puja- Sun Festival in India

Chhath Puja is an ancient Hindu festival. It is dedicated to God Sun thus this festival is a Sun festival in India. The celebrations lasting four days take place throughout the country. During this, people bring prayers and offerings to Surya and his wife Usha, the Goddess of the Daybreak.

The North Indian state of Bihar is the center and the birthplace of the festival. The festival is also The Main Festival of Bihar. The festival enjoys the greatest popularity in the eastern states of India but is now celebrated throughout India such as in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and other parts of India. Chhath is unique to Bihar, Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh, Nepal & Mauritius.

The Chhath Puja is held according to the Lunar calendar and comes in autumn, on the sixth day of the Kartik month, shortly after the celebration of the Festival of Lights – Diwali, which marks the end of agricultural work.

In accordance with a strict tradition, this is a period for the devotees to be fasting and abstaining from drinking water, as well as to be performing ablutions and standing in water for a long period of time and performing the ceremonies of worshipping the Sun rising or setting. The contact with water and prolonged meditative staying in it is an essential part of the ceremonies. It is noteworthy that this is one of the rare Hindu holidays in which priests are not involved at all: prayer communication with the Sun implies detachment from the vanities of the world, although it takes place together with the relatives around and with a huge number of other participants in the ritual.