The passing across
Sanskrit sankranti: the sun's passage from one zodiac sign to the next.
The day the sun enters a new sign of the zodiac. Makar Sankranti, the entry into Makara in January, is the best known.
A solar harvest festival marking the Sun's entry into Makara and its northward turn, kept with river baths, kites and sesame-jaggery sweets.
Manikandan, born of Shiva and Mohini, defeats the demoness Mahishi and enshrines himself at Sabarimala, origin of Kerala's 41-day Mandala vratham.
The Skanda Purana katha of the merchant Sadhu and his daughter Kalavati, recited during the Satyanarayan Vrat puja to Lord Vishnu.
Pancha Prayag marks five confluences of the Alaknanda in Garhwal: Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devprayag, where the Ganga is born.
Uttarkashi, the Soumya Kashi of the Himalayas, is a quiet seat of Shiva tapasya on the Bhagirathi, with the Kashi Vishwanath temple and its great trident.