Makar Sankranti 2027मकर संक्रांति

When is Makar Sankranti?

Observed on Sun enters Capricorn (Makar Rashi). Dates follow the Panchang for New Delhi and can differ by a day in other places — check the Panchang for your city.

What Makar Sankranti means

Makar Sankranti is the day the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn) in the sidereal zodiac. Most Hindu festivals follow the moon; Sankranti follows the sun, which is why it falls on almost the same date every year — 14 or 15 January. In the traditional reckoning it begins Uttarayana, the Sun's northward half of the year, which the scriptures call the bright and auspicious path, the 'day of the gods'.

It is above all a harvest festival and a festival of giving. The winter crop is coming in, the days are growing longer, and across India people bathe in rivers at dawn, worship the Sun, and give — sesame and jaggery, khichdi, blankets and warm clothes. Sesame (til) and jaggery (gur) are at the heart of the day: warming food for the cold season, and a sign of sweetness and closeness, as in the Marathi greeting 'tilgul ghya, goad goad bola' — take this sesame-jaggery and speak sweetly.

Few festivals take so many names. It is Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan with its skies full of kites in Gujarat, Maghi in Punjab after the bonfires of Lohri, Magh or Bhogali Bihu in Assam, Poush Sankranti in Bengal with the great bath at Gangasagar, Khichdi in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and Sankranti in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The customs differ, but the sun, the harvest and the sharing are the same everywhere.

The story of Makar Sankranti

In the Mahabharata, Bhishma, wounded and lying on his bed of arrows, chose not to leave his body until the Sun had turned north. Blessed with the power to choose the time of his death, he waited through the war for Uttarayana, and passed away on the eighth day of the bright half of Magha, now kept as Bhishma Ashtami. His waiting made Uttarayana a symbol of a good and peaceful passing.

The Puranas tell that Surya, the Sun, visits his son Shani, the lord of Makara, at this time — a reminder that even strained relationships can be renewed. Bengal's Gangasagar tradition remembers that on Sankranti the Ganga, brought down by King Bhagiratha, reached the ocean at Sagar island and purified the ashes of the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara. A popular legend also says that Vishnu ended the asuras' terror on this day and buried their heads beneath Mount Mandara.

Makar Sankranti puja vidhi, step by step

A simple observance at home. Customs differ greatly between regions — Pongal, Bihu, Lohri and Uttarayan each have their own way — so follow your family's tradition where it differs.

What you need

• Water in a copper vessel (lota) for arghya to the Sun, with red flowers, akshat and a little kumkum
• Til (sesame) for the bath water and for daan
• Til-gur sweets — ladoos, chikki, revdi or gajak
• Khichdi ingredients (rice and urad or moong dal) — cooked and offered, or given raw as daan
• Warm clothes or blankets to give
• A diya and incense

When to do the puja

Sankranti has a punya kaal, a window of time after the Sun enters Makara, for the bath and daan. When the Sun enters Makara after sunset, many traditions keep the festival and its punya kaal on the next day. Exact times change by year and city — check the Panchang for your city. See the Panchang for your city.

Steps

1. Bathe at dawn. Bathe in a river or at home, adding a few sesame seeds to the water.
2. Offer arghya to the Sun. Facing the rising sun, slowly pour water from the copper lota with flowers and akshat, reciting the arghya mantra or the Gayatri.
3. Worship and recite. Light a lamp, worship Surya, Vishnu or your family deity, and recite the Aditya Hridayam or a Surya stotra if you can.
4. Give. Give sesame, jaggery, khichdi, grain, warm clothes or blankets to those in need. Daan is the heart of the day.
5. Share sweetness. Eat and share til-gur sweets and khichdi with family and neighbours. In the afternoon, many families fly kites.

Offerings & food: Til-gur ladoo, khichdi, chuda-dahi, revdi, gajak

Mantras for Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti across India

Pongal in Tamil Nadu (4-day harvest festival), Lohri in Punjab (eve-of celebration), Magh (Bhogali) Bihu in Assam, Uttarayan in Gujarat (kite festival), Khichdi in Uttar Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Pongal, over four days: Bhogi (clearing out the old), Thai Pongal (rice boiled with milk and jaggery until it overflows, offered to the Sun), Mattu Pongal (honouring cattle) and Kaanum Pongal (visiting family).

Gujarat

Uttarayan: rooftops and skies filled with kites from dawn to dusk, with undhiyu and chikki.

Punjab and Haryana

Lohri bonfires on the eve, with rewri, peanuts and popcorn offered to the fire; Maghi on the day, with a dip and the mela at Muktsar.

Assam

Magh (Bhogali) Bihu: community feasts, meji bonfires at dawn, and pitha and laru.

West Bengal

Poush Sankranti: pithe-puli sweets, and the Gangasagar Mela, where lakhs of pilgrims bathe where the Ganga meets the sea.

Maharashtra

Tilgul is exchanged with 'tilgul ghya, goad goad bola', and married women hold haldi-kunku gatherings.

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Ellu-bella (sesame, jaggery, coconut and peanuts) is shared in Karnataka; in Andhra and Telangana the festival runs over Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanuma, with rangoli (muggulu) and Haridasu singers.

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Khichdi: khichdi is cooked and given; in Bihar chura-dahi with tilkut is the festival meal. Large melas gather at Prayagraj and at the Gorakhnath temple.

Kerala

Makaravilakku at Sabarimala, when the Makara Jyothi is seen at the end of the pilgrimage season.

Prayers to recite

Do’s and don’ts

Temples to visit for Makar Sankranti

Konark Sun TempleKonark, OdishaKashi Vishwanath TempleVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh

Frequently asked questions