What Makar Sankranti is
‘Sankranti’ is the Sun moving from one sign to the next. It happens twelve times a year, but Makar Sankranti is the greatest, because tradition calls it the start of uttarayana: the Sun's northward course, lengthening days and the harvest season.
It is one of very few festivals fixed by the Sun, not the Moon; so its date in the Gregorian calendar stays almost fixed (14 or 15 January).
How the date is decided
Shastra (Dharmasindhu, Muhurta Chintamani): the hour of the Sun's entry into Makara sets the punya-kala.
- Entry by day: the 40 ghatis (about 16 hours) after the entry are the punya-kala. If very little of the day is left, Dharmasindhu says to bathe and give on that day, in the time before the entry.
- Entry after sunset or at night: the next day is the punya-kala, its first half especially, and the five ghatis after sunrise best of all. Muhurta Chintamani agrees: if Makara Sankranti is after sunset, the next day.
Why 14 or 15 January: Indian panchangs count signs against the stars (nirayana). The Sun's sidereal entry into Makara now happens around 14 January, sometimes by day, sometimes at night; if after sunset, the festival is on the 15th. The astronomical winter solstice (shortest day) is around 21 December; the gap comes from the sidereal reckoning.
The story: tradition / Purana story
Tradition has several stories. In one, the Sun visits the house of his son Shani (lord of Makara) today, a day of father and son meeting. In the Mahabharata tradition, Bhishma waited for uttarayana before leaving his body. Another story is of King Bhagiratha, behind whom the Ganga reached the sea on this day; so a great fair is held at Gangasagar.
Dharmasindhu speaks of giving sesame, offering sesame in the fire and eating sesame at uttarayana, and of worshipping Shiva with sesame and rice. That is the root of the sesame-and-jaggery custom.
How families celebrate
- Punjab, Haryana: Lohri the day before, bonfires, revdi and peanuts.
- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar: ‘Khichdi’; a Ganga bath, curd with flattened rice, tilkut.
- Gujarat, Rajasthan: Uttarayan, kites all day, undhiyu and chikki.
- Maharashtra: ‘tilgul ghya, god god bola’: share sesame-jaggery and promise sweet words; haldi-kumkum.
- Tamil Nadu: four-day Pongal: new rice and jaggery boiled over and offered to the Sun.
- Assam: Magh Bihu (Bhogali), community feasts.
- Karnataka, Andhra: ‘ellu-bella’ and ‘Sankranti’, rangoli, a festival for cattle.
A simple puja
- Bathe in the punya-kala; you can add a few sesame seeds to the water.
- Offer water to the Sun from a copper pot with red flowers and rice.
- Offer sesame and jaggery to the deity, then share with family and neighbours.
- Give as you can: sesame, jaggery, khichdi ingredients, a blanket or warm clothes to someone in need.
- Cook khichdi and eat with the family.
Safety: kites, cold and water
Kite string: glass- or metal-coated (‘Chinese’) manjha seriously injures birds and two-wheeler riders and is banned in many states; use plain cotton thread. On a two-wheeler, cover your neck with a scarf or guard.
Rooftops: children shouldn't fly kites alone on roofs with low walls; don't tug kites caught in power lines.
Bathing: in cold rivers, bathe at the edge, away from deep water and currents; older people, children and those with heart or blood-pressure conditions can bathe at home in warm water. Hold children's hands at fairs. Keep a safe distance from bonfires.
In ePandit
In ePandit: our calendar shows the festival day with your city's sunrise and sunset. The day is decided once, for Ujjain; your city's times are shown separately. We don't compute muhurta yet, and we never call a festival good or bad for anyone.