Makar Sankranti 2026 Date — Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Makar Sankranti 2026 — full list of dates

Why we celebrate

The Sun enters sidereal Makara (Capricorn) and begins Uttarayana, its northward journey. It is the one major Hindu festival fixed to the solar calendar rather than the moon, so it lands on 14 or 15 January every year. In Tamil Nadu the same day is Thai Pongal, the harvest thanksgiving that opens the auspicious month of Thai.

Regional notes

Tamil Nadu: Thai Pongal. Andhra and Telangana: three-day Sankranti with Bhogi and Kanuma. Karnataka: Suggi Habba with ellu-bella exchange. Maharashtra: til-gul with the greeting 'til-gul ghya, god god bola'. Gujarat and Rajasthan: Uttarayan kites. Punjab: Maghi, the morning after Lohri. Assam: Magh Bihu with meji bonfires.

How it is celebrated

Four days in the Tamil country: Bhogi (bonfire of the old), Thai Pongal (the pongal pot boiling over), Mattu Pongal (honouring cattle) and Kaanum Pongal (family outings). Elsewhere it is Uttarayan kite flying in Gujarat, Lohri and Maghi in Punjab, Magh Bihu in Assam, Khichdi in Uttar Pradesh, and holy dips at Ganga Sagar, Prayagraj and Haridwar.

Puja timing

Punya Kaal is the roughly forty ghatis (about sixteen hours) after the Sun's ingress into Makara; if the transit happens after sunset the whole observance shifts to the next sunrise, which is why some years fall on 15 January.

Foods & offerings

Sakkarai pongal and ven pongal, sugarcane, til-gul laddu and gajak, khichdi, pitha in Assam.

Rituals

1. Boil the pongal pot at sunrise and let it overflow while calling 'Pongalo Pongal'.
2. Bathe in a river or take a sankalpa snan at home before sunrise.
3. Draw a kolam or rangoli at the doorway.
4. Give til-gul, grain or cloth as daan.

Makar Sankranti dates by year