Makar Sankranti 2027

About Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti marks the Sun's entry into the sidereal sign of Makara (Capricorn), and in 2027 it falls on Friday, 15 January 2027. It is one of the few Hindu festivals set by the Sun rather than a moon phase, which is why it stays near 14 January every year while the same day is kept as Pongal, Lohri, Maghi, Magh Bihu and Uttarayan in different states.

A sankranti is the moment the Sun crosses from one zodiac sign into the next. There are twelve in a year. This one, into Makara, is the one India stops for.

Because the Sun sets the date and not the Moon, Makar Sankranti barely moves. Holi and Diwali swing across three or four weeks of the Gregorian calendar. Sankranti sits on 14 January, or 15 January in some years, and has done so for generations. That single fact is why so many harvest festivals across the country land on the same two days under different names.

Why the date drifts, very slowly

Hindu calendars fix the moment using the sidereal zodiac, measured from a fixed point among the stars, rather than the tropical zodiac measured from the equinox. The tropical version of this event is the winter solstice, which happens around 21 or 22 December.

The two used to be the same day. Because of the slow wobble of the Earth's axis, the sidereal entry into Makara has been slipping later by roughly one degree every 72 years, which works out to about one day every seventy years. The last time the solstice and Makar Sankranti coincided was around 291 CE. So a page that tells you Makar Sankranti is the shortest day of the year is three weeks and seventeen centuries out of date. What it marks in practice is the start of Uttarayan, the Sun's northward run, as Hindu tradition reckons it.

What is punya kaal on Makar Sankranti?

Punya kaal is the auspicious window that follows the Sun's entry into Makara on Makar Sankranti. It runs 40 ghatis, roughly sixteen hours, with the first hour and a half or so marked out as maha punya kaal, and panchangs give a precise clock time for the transit that starts it. Bathing, giving in charity, offering food to Surya and breaking a fast are meant to happen inside it.

One rule causes most of the confusion. If the transit happens after sunset, the punya kaal rituals are pushed to the next sunrise, so the observed festival lands on the following calendar day. In those years a panchang will say 15 January while a government holiday list still prints 14 January. If you need the religious day, follow a panchang set to your own city. If you need the office holiday, follow the state list.

What is Makar Sankranti called in different states?

Makar Sankranti goes by a different name in much of the country: Uttarayan in Gujarat and Rajasthan, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Maghi in Punjab and Haryana, Magh Bihu in Assam, Khichdi in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and Poush Sankranti in West Bengal.

How is Uttarayan celebrated in Gujarat?

In Gujarat, where Makar Sankranti is Uttarayan, the day belongs to the sky and to kites. Ahmedabad has hosted an International Kite Festival since 1989, now run from the Sabarmati riverfront, with flyers from Japan, Brazil, Italy and elsewhere. Families climb up at dawn, shout when a rival's line is cut, and after dark send up tukkal, small lit lanterns strung along the line. Undhiyu, chikki and jalebi are the food of the day.

The manja, the abrasive string, is the danger. Nylon and synthetic strings, and cotton coated with glass, are banned in India, and the Gujarat High Court has repeatedly told the state to enforce both bans before Uttarayan. Coated lines cut birds out of the air and have killed riders passing under a low string. Cities run bird rescue helplines through the festival.

Bathing fairs and the wedding season

Sankranti is one of the biggest bathing days of the Hindu year. At Gangasagar, on Sagar Island where the Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal, lakhs of pilgrims take a dip and visit the Kapil Muni temple; it is among the largest annual gatherings in the country. At Prayagraj, Makar Sankranti is a principal bathing date of the Magh Mela and of the Kumbh in its years.

There is a practical side too. In much of north India, families avoid weddings and other auspicious ceremonies while the Sun is in Dhanu, the period many call Kharmas or Malmas. Makar Sankranti ends it. If a relative has been waiting to fix a date, this is the day the phone starts ringing.

What to write

Sankranti

The Sun's crossing from one zodiac sign into the next; twelve happen each year

Uttarayan

The Sun's northward course, which tradition counts from this day

Punya kaal

The window after the transit when bathing, charity and rituals are done

Tilgul

Sesame and jaggery sweets exchanged in Maharashtra with a request to speak sweetly

Kharmas

The stretch when the Sun is in Dhanu and many north Indian families avoid weddings; it ends at Makar Sankranti

How to wish someone on Makar Sankranti

A Sankranti wish works best when it uses the name and the sweet the other person grew up with: tilgul in Maharashtra, ellu-bella in Karnataka, chikki and kites in Gujarat, khichdi in Uttar Pradesh, dahi-chuda in Bihar. The standard idea is to ask for sweetness in speech and warmth in the year ahead, not only wealth. Keep it short, name the food or the ritual you know they do, and send it in the morning if you can.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.

When is Makar Sankranti in 2026 and 2027?

Makar Sankranti is set by the Hindu solar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 1 day later than in 2026.

Frequently asked questions