My hearty  Divine Blessings to all on the occasion of Sankranthi.  This is the day when the sun enters the Makara Rasi.  On this day in the villages the people come together make pongal with newly harvested rice and cows milk and new jaggery and offer it to Suryanarayana or the Sun God for he is very vital for the growth and harvest of crops. They also decorate the cows and animals that provide so much service to them and pay their gratitude.  Even the act of making rangoli in front of the houses with rice flour is to feed the insects and other minute organisms in the universe. In reality this is the day to unite and pay gratitude to the Sun for he gets the life force (Praana Shakti) from the universe and transmits it to the earth and thereby all the living beings on the Earth. It is this energy which is sustaining life on the Earth.  It is the day to pay gratitude to the five elements of which the universe, earth and all of us are composed of and pledge to do all we can to maintain the balance among them and also keep them free of pollution. We should show gratitude to everything and everyone who helps us in some way or other in our lives.  This is what Sankranthi is all about. The sense of unity and gratitude that Sankranthi brings and the united way it is celebrated in our villages should spread to the whole world, thereby making this world an abode of peace.

Sri Sri Sri Viswayogi Viswamjee Maharaj