JANUARY : POUSH - MAGH

JANUARY IS A MONTH of severe cold in northern India. In the south, while the nights are chill, the days are certainly more clement and sun-warmed. In rural India, farmers look forward to the ripening of their crops of rice, wheat, sugarcane and a variety of pulses. This is also the time for millions of rural Indians to light bonfires of dried wood and hay in their courtyards and relax in the cold, star-studded twilight.

NEW YEAR : Ring In The New

The Christian New Year on the first day of January has become a national celebration irrespective of religion or creed. People in urban India stay awake to welcome the new year and merrymaking continues till the sun's first rays light up the eastern horizon. Prayers, parties and festoons welcome the advent of a new year. It is also the time to remember friends through the exchange of cards carrying good wishes.

MAKAR SANKRANTI : The Sun Journeys

North In small-town India however~the first major festival in the month of January is Makar Sankranti, Lohri or PongaL According to the lunar calendar, the sun transits from the Tropic of Cancer into the Tropic of Capricorn from Dakshinayana into Uttarayana in the month Poush in mid-January. The sun thus begins to face the northern hemisphere of the earth.

THAI PUSAM : Thrnuah Faifh And Fire Thai is a Tamil month which coincides with Magh. It is most sacred to devotees of Kartikeya who is worshipped specially when the Pusam star rises in this month. At many south Indian temples, trenches of burning coals arc laid out for devotees to walk over. In a similar custom, Mariamman, a deity popular in southern India, is also worshipped with a fire walk.