Tonight i.e. on 21/22 December 2022, at 3.19 pm, the Sun will be at its extreme southern revolution. From the same time, the sun will start to rise and the Hemant ritu will end and the shishir ritu will begin. This is the Makar Sankranti of the Sun. The basic meaning of Makar Sankranti is that on the day when the sun is in the straight line of the Tropic of Capricorn, its rays fall vertically. There should be peak of summer. At those places the day value is maximum in the year. And the Tropic of Cancer should have the shortest day of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, on this day, the value of the day is the smallest throughout the year. It will be midnight today at the North Pole. There the sunset was on 23rd September and the sunrise will be on 21st March, today will be exactly midnight. And it will be noon today at the South Pole.
By mistake, we celebrate Makar Sankranti on 14/15 January, which is moving forward one day in about 72 years. A time will also come when Makar Sankranti will be celebrated at the end of Shishir Ritu. The one who should be at the beginning of Shishir Ritu should come at the end of that season. In AD 285, both types of Sankrantis, Sayan and Nirayan Makarsankranti, used to be on the same day. There has been a difference of 24 days in 1700 years. It is unfortunate that the astrologers and public not paying attention to this.
Pandit Jayant Rawal