There are 12 main Sanskriti's (change, to change constellations) in the Hindu Calendar. Makra Sanskranti is the day that the Sun's yearly tranist crosses from line between Sagittarius and enters Makra (Capricorn).
Culturally it means many things and is never simple for the western mind who only wants one word for each Sanskrit word, however, it does not work that way. Makra Sankranti also means, when the Ganga River meets the ocean of the Bay of Bengal, when the river changes to the ocean and this is celebrated in Bengal as Ganga Sagar, Ganga becomes the ocean at Makra Sankranti.
Thus Babu Kishan is the first to record and compose the music to h Ganga Sargar.
It has nothing to do with Western Astrology or the Western mind, it is an ancient day and practice in the Indian calendar. "According to Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna manifests himself in his full magnificence during this time.”
This is the time of love play between Krishna and Radha.
Contemplate the qualities of the Gopi Chand (Ektara the one stringed instrument of the Vaishnava Bauls of Birbhum) and be blessed by the Divine Love of Radha and Krishna's Dance.
Contemplate the Gita Govinda as the Vaishnava Bauls do in song and dance of the love of Radha and Krishna. There is a reason the Vaishnava Bauls celebrate at the the famous temple of Radhavinod (another name for Lord Krishna) is situated in the village of Kenduli Birbhum on the banks of Ajoy river.
It was the home-village of famous poet JOYDEV or where he traveled to because Odisha now claims him as born there? Joy Dev was the Poet Royal at the court of the King of Bengal Lakshman Sen of the SEN dynasty (11th-12th century AD). He wrote of the love of Radha and Krishna. It is here that Joydev wrote his famous book “Geeta Govinda”. It is at Makra Sanskriti that the Vaishnava Bauls celebrated here in a Mela called the Joy Dev Mela.
Makara Sankranti is the movement of the sun from Sagitarius to Capricorn it is based on Sun Kala (Time). It is a celebration of Radha and Krishna's love from 5000 years ago and with that as Indian's celebrate in regional ways.
For the Vaishnava Tantric Bauls of Birbhum Bengal The Joy Dev Mela takes place in Kenduli about 35 Kms south of Suri where KD Babukishan was born and his ancestors and Lineage have always since the beginning of time gone there to celebrate except in recent times and this will be written about in the new book Historical Baul.
The temple is situated on the north bank of River Ajoy. The great Sanskrit poet Joydev who flourished in 12th Century and composed the well known Gita Govinda, a Sanskrit Lyrical poem which the Bauls have always worshiped.
The Joy Dev Mela (Festival) always takes place during Makar Sankranti.
According to Puranas, on the day of Makara Sankranti, God Sun pays visit to the house of his son Shani (Saturn) who is the swami of Makar Rashi (Capricorn Zodiac sign).
Capricorn is also known as Markara the crocodile.
Makar Sankranti is four days festivity period which is dedicated to Lord Sun.
All rituals during Makar Sankranti are gestures of thanksgiving to natural resources which make life possible on the Earth.
The Sun God is worshipped for bestowing good harvest and nurturing livestock. The cattle especially bulls and oxen are worshipped for their significance in traditionally ploughing fields.
Joy Dev's soul mates or Monar Manush name was Padmavati Devi. There are 100's of Baul songs based on their life story. The Joy Deva Kenduli Baul Mela takes place here, it is the Bauls who have kept Joy Dev's poetry alive.
Nabani Das Kheppa Baul, Manohar Kheppa a Vaishnava Poet, Bhava Pagla, Sati Ma, Chintamuni Dasi (grandfathers) auntie, Triguna Dasi (grandfathers Mum), Purna Das Baul, Babukishan, George Harrison, Allen Ginsberg, Amartya Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, TaraShankar Banerjee, Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Bidhan Chandra Ray, Satyajit Ray, all have kept this temple alive it is located on the bank of the Ajoy River. Today the festival is not the same, it has completely changed by outsiders who never understood the culture.
There is or was a bridge that you have to cross to get to the temple this bridge is called The NABANI SETU it is named after Nabani Das Khyappa Baul.
Intellectuals from around the world have been visiting the Joy Deva Mela for decades to take part in this Baul Mela, (festival) although in recent years it has changed as the Bauls become extinct.
"Makara Sankranti, apart from a harvest festival is also regarded as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian culture.
It is said as the 'holy phase of transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December.
It is believed that any auspicious and sacred ritual can be sanctified in any Hindu family, this day onwards. Scientifically, this day marks the beginning of warmer and longer days compared to the nights. In other words, Sankranti marks the termination of winter season and beginning of a new harvest or spring season."
Also, thousands of people take Holy Dip during Makar Sankranti, usually falls on 14 or 15th January every year. Gangasagar pilgrimage and fair is the second largest congregation of mankind after the holy Kumbha Mela.
The latter is observed once in four years at alternate locations in north, central and central-west parts of the country, Gangasagar fair and pilgrimage is held annually on the Sagar Island’s southern tip in the Ganges delta atop the Bay of Bengal.
"Radhavinod temple is a brick-built NAVA RATNA temple with nine pinnacles (called Ratna-s in Bengali), the nine pinnacles are Rekh –Shikhar type. The façade of the temple is decorated with terracotta bricks with beautiful engravings .
The temple is two storied. The cornices of the first roof is curved . There are four Ratna-s or pinnacles on the four corners of this roof. On top of this there is the second smaller floor with curved roof. There are four smaller Ratna-s at the four corners of this roof too, with a central big Ratna, thus making the number of Ratna-s 4+5 =9 in total.
The upper floor was badly damaged & is repaired recently, but with plain cement work, which looks rather ugly on this grand old beauty with exquisite terracotta works in front.
The terracotta decorations include :
a) the traditional 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu ;
b) scenes from the Hindu epic RAMAYANA depicting scenes of battle between the soldiers of the demon King of Sri Lanka RAVANA & the monkey soldiers of Lord RAMA . A depiction of the demon king Ravana is eye catching, with ten heads & twenty arms & a fierce look on the face ;
c) many social scenes, amongst which there is a unique art work of two village ladies performing the morning ritual of rural Bengal called BASIPAAT ( Sweeping the household area after sprinkling cow-dung mixed water which is considered very holy & auspicious still today).
The fineness of the intricate terracotta works is truly mind boggling.
The temple was constructed in 1683 AD by the King of Bardhaman Maharaj Kirti Chand Bahadur"
Please excuse my typo's and mis-spelling of Sanskrit words, I am not from Sanskrit, I do all of the writing in English for Babu Kishan, he is the Sanskrit expert, born into the Oral (Sanskrit) tradition of the Vaishnava Bauls of Birbhum, 12 years at Ramakrishna Mission, Master level and way above PhD at Calcutta University, he knows the difference between Oral and book learning.
BabuKishan.org