The Untold Truth about Makara Jyothi

by Astro Ved Online Astrology Consultation

Whenever it is Makar Sankranti, mentions do come about Makara Jyothi. Makara Jyothi is related to the religious significance of people in South India and is broadly celebrated in temples of South India. The event relates to Lord Ayyappan, who awakes from his tapas to bless devotees on this very day.

Thousands of people make their visit to the temple in Sabarimala, where the prime shrine of Ayyappan is established and worshipped. On Makar Sankranti, the temple receives a huge crowd which happens to be on 14 January every year. Here the Makara Jyothi refers to the fact that the Sun enters the Capricorn constellation while traveling toward the Northern hemisphere. This is considered an important and auspicious event in Hinduism, and the Sun stays in the Northern hemisphere for six months.

Here Makar means the zodiac sign Capricorn and Jyothi means light. Hence the transit of the Sun in the Capricorn is called Makar Jyothi. On the first day of the event, when the Sun enters the constellation Capricorn, a star rises in the sky, and it shines bright at the time of Sunset. The star appears on other days too, but the first day of its arrival is the most significant one, and people relate the event to their religious beliefs and a celestial phenomenon.

Makara Vilakku

Other than Makar Jyothi, there is another famous term Makar Vilakku which is a man-made phenomenon rather than a celestial event. Every year on the day of Makar Jyothi, after the star shines in the sky, devotees encounter another light on the hill of Ponnambalamedu. This light appears after the celestial event, which people consider the Lord Ayyappan giving them blessings in the form of it.

However, this event is completely man-made, and years ago, it was performed by the tribesmen living near the temple in the forest area. These tribespeople used to worship their Lord on the day of Makar Vilakku by flaming a large amount of camphor and ghee and later extinguishing the fire using wet sacks. Both Makara Jyothi and Makara Vilakku may seem like a celestial event, but both are completely different.

Understanding the Term “Makara.”

Makar refers to the zodiac sign Capricorn which is one of the twelve zodiac signs. Here the term Makara Jyothi refers to the term light of Capricorn if we go by the meaning.

Every year, the Sun travels in all these twelve zodiac signs one by one. It takes Sun one year to complete traveling in all these zodiac signs once. Hence Makar Sankranti is the time when the Sun enters the zodiac Capricorn, and hence its name implies.

People celebrate this duration as Makara Sankranti, which usually falls on 14 January every year. This day marks many great things all over India, even if people know them by different names. For example, this is the harvesting season when farmers yield the crops and celebrate it as Lohri in Punjab. This event also marks the beginning of Summer where the Sun enters the Northern hemisphere or the Uttarayan.

On the day, people take a holy bath, perform austerities, and pray to God Sun. They celebrate the days in different ways in different states, but it is rejoiced everywhere. In Tamil Nadu, this event is known as Pongal that Tamilians celebrate with great fervor.

Overall when the Sun starts shining in the sign Capricorn, this phenomenon is Makara Jyothi.

Sabarimala and Makara Jyothi

Other than the celestial happening, Makara Jyothi is deeply associated with the belief of the devotees and hence holds a significant religious bond. The occasion is about Lord Ayyappan, who is associated with the legend of Lord Rama during his exile period.

People believe that during the exile period, Lord Rama and Laxman once met Sabari, who was a staunch devotee of Rama. After eating the tasted fruits given by Sabari, they blessed her and were going ahead in their journey. They, however, stopped by seeing a person who was doing Tapas.

Sabari told Rama that he was Lord Sasta also known as Ayyappan. As soon as Rama approached Sasta, he stood upright to welcome Rama. Makara Jyothi refers to this legend since devotees believe that on this day, Lord Ayyappan comes to bless his devotees by taking a break from tapas.

Sabarimala is the place where the prime shrine of Ayyappan has been installed. Every year millions of devotees come to visit the temple and to get a glimpse of the Lord Ayyappan and to have his sanctification. Hence the temple makes the second-largest pilgrimage which thousands of people come to every year at the time of Makara Sankranti.

All the devotees witness the divine light Makara Jyothi in the evening, around about 6 or 6.30 pm when the Sun is about to set.