Ratha saptami

[Subrahmanian, Sundararaman V [IT]]

> And interstingly the ratha sapthami (shukla paxa sapthami of
> mAgha maasa),
> a famous day of worship for Lord suurya is tomorrow (check your local
> pancangam for accurate date). According to some, this entire
> maagha maasa
> is special for Lord suurya.

When I was young, I remember that on Sankranti, my mother used to draw the
sun and moon in a particular way on a wooden plank (palagai - Tamil) and
worship that.  She used the change the configuration (I think) for ratha
saptami and pray on that day apart from the special ritual bath.

Can anyone explain these configurations and what they are for Sankranti and
Ratha saptami.

SVS