India is getting ready to celebrate Makara Vilakku, Pongal, Lohri, and Bhogi.  India is home to different civilizations. The festivals signal the end of the winter solstice as they get ready to celebrate the warmth of Lohri fire, the joyful greetings of Pongal and Bhogi, and the divine sight of Makara Vilakku.

Lohri: Lohri 2023 falls on Saturday, 14th January, 2023. The Lohri event commemorates the start of the basant, or spring season, when Lohri bonfires are kindled on harvested fields. Around the fire, they sing "Sunder Mundriye Ho," dance, and throw til and sesame into it as they honour Dulla Bhatti. In North India, primarily in Punjab and in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Pakistan, Lohri commemorates post-harvest rituals and has additional cultural importance.

Pongal: Pongal 2023 celebrations start on Saturday, January 14th, 2023. The Pongal celebration, one of Tamil Nadu's most significant harvest festivals, honours the Sun God for a bountiful harvest. Pongal is a four-day holiday celebrated starting on the last day of the Margazhi month and lasting until the third day of the Thai month. On the eve of Pongal, old valuables and Bhagi are burned in bonfires. On this day, rangoli pongal patterns are all over the streets. As they cook rice in a pot of milk sweetened with jaggery, people, particularly women, chant "Pongalo Pongal."

Bhogi: Bhogi 2023 takes place on January 14th, a Saturday.  The first day of the four-day Pongal harvest festival is observed as Bhogi. The day, also known as Sankranti Bhogi, is set aside to remember Lord Indra's blessings for a bountiful harvest that brought wealth and prosperity. People give away their old belongings to start over. Women use freshly harvested rice flour paste to create flower patterns known as "kolams."

Makara Vilakku:  Kerala celebrates Makar Sankranti with a large annual harvest festival known as Makara Vilakku on 2023 which is observed on Saturday, January 14th, 2023. To see the Makara Jyoti, people from all over South India swarm to Sabarimala. According to popular belief, seeing Makara Jyoti, the holy light that appears on Makara Vilakk day, is fortunate. Thousands of devotees gather to see this event and pray to Swamy Ayyappa, the god at Sabarimala.

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