Hindu festival
Makar Sankranti
Also known as Uttarayan, Maghi.
In short
Makar Sankranti marks the Sun's entry into Makara (Capricorn) and the start of its northward journey (Uttarayan). A rare solar festival, it falls around mid-January and is kept with holy bathing, sesame and jaggery sweets, kite-flying, and thanksgiving for the harvest.
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When is Makar Sankranti?
- This year’s date
- Set by the panchang each year from the rule below. Godify shows a specific date only once it is confirmed against an authoritative panchang — never guessed.
- Tithi / rule
- The day the Sun enters Makara rashi (Capricorn) — a solar transit, not a lunar tithi; it falls around mid-January
- Calendar
- Solar calendar (sankranti / Sun's transit)
- Deity
- Surya
Unlike the lunar-tithi festivals, Makar Sankranti is set by the Sun's transit (sankranti), so it falls on nearly the same Gregorian date each year, around 14–15 January.
The story
Makar Sankranti is one of the few Hindu festivals fixed by the solar calendar — the Sun's transit into Makara rashi — which is why it lands around the same date each year while lunar festivals shift.
It marks Uttarayan, the sun's turn to the north, welcomed as a time of light, warmth, and new harvest. Across India it takes many regional forms — Pongal, Lohri, Bihu, Uttarayan — all bound to the turning sun.
How it’s celebrated
People bathe in sacred rivers, make sweets of sesame and jaggery (til-gud), fly kites, light bonfires (Lohri), and give thanks for the harvest and the returning sun.
A mantra to mark the day
ॐ आदित्याय विद्महे दिवाकराय धीमहि तन्नः सूर्यः प्रचोदयात्
oṃ ādityāya vidmahe divākarāya dhīmahi tannaḥ sūryaḥ pracodayāt
May we know Aditya and meditate on the Day-maker; may Surya inspire our minds.
More Hindu festivals
About Makar Sankranti
When is Makar Sankranti?
On the day the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn), around 14–15 January. Because it is solar, it stays near the same Gregorian date each year.
Why does Makar Sankranti fall on a fixed date?
It is set by the Sun's transit into Capricorn (a solar event), not by a lunar tithi — so, unlike most Hindu festivals, its date barely moves year to year.
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