Ratha Saptami 1906: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ratha Saptamī (the 7th day (Saptamī) of the bright fortnight of Māgha) is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the Sun god, Sūrya Deva. The name combines ratha (chariot) and saptamī (seventh): according to the Mahābhārata and the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, on this day Sūrya's chariot, drawn by seven horses representing the seven colours of sunlight (VIBGYOR), begins to gain full speed on its northward journey (Uttarāyaṇa). The Sun, which appeared to pause at the winter solstice, now accelerates toward the spring equinox, bringing warmth, longer days, and the promise of the harvest season.

The central ritual of Ratha Saptamī is the placement of seven Arka leaves (Calotropis gigantea, the crown flower plant) on the body before the sunrise bath. One leaf on the head, two on the shoulders, two on the knees, and two on the feet. The bather then pours water over themselves at the precise moment of sunrise while reciting the Sūrya Aṣṭakam or the Āditya Hṛdayam. The Arka plant is sacred to Sūrya: its flowers resemble the rays of the sun, and its sap is used in Āyurvedic preparations for skin and bone ailments, diseases that Sūrya is believed to cure.

Ratha Saptamī is observed with special enthusiasm in the great Sūrya temples of India: Koṇārka in Odisha, Modherā in Gujarat, Arasavalli in Andhra Pradesh, and Sūryanār Kovil in Tamil Nadu attract thousands of pilgrims on this day. The Āditya Hṛdayam (the hymn that Sage Agastya taught to Rāma on the battlefield of Laṅkā to give him strength to defeat Rāvaṇa) is considered the supreme prayer for this occasion. In many homes, a model of the seven-horse chariot is drawn in rangolī at the threshold, the Sun's chariot racing across the morning sky.