The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.285

v2.c17.s1.285

3. *Makara*. The third is the counterpart of the *Makara Saṃkrānti* of Bhuvaneśvara (p. [78]) and is observed in the same way, omitting the bathing. It is a universal festival among Indo-Aryans and marks the time when the Sun enters the sign Capricornus, or the return of the Sun from the south,—'the cessation of the winter and the return of general rays of the solar luminary'. It is a time for cake and rejoicing, for friendly greetings and interchange of presents or mementos ; and whether we view it in Christmas cakes and plum-puddings, 'a happy Christmas and a Merry New Year' in England, the Strenœ of the Romans, the New Year's gifts of the French (Etrennes), or the rice-cakes of the Bengalee, it is the same everywhere, modified by external and adventitious circumstances, but not the less a manifestation of the feeling⁶⁵.