मकर संक्रांति
The harvest festival that almost all of India celebrates on the same day, under a dozen names.
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Makar Sankranti 2026
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Solar — the sun's transit into Capricorn (Makar), usually 14 or 15 January
Makar Sankranti marks the sun's transit into the zodiac sign Capricorn, which makes it one of the very few Indian festivals fixed by the solar calendar rather than the lunar one. It falls on 14 or 15 January. In 2026 it is Wednesday 14 January.
Because it is solar, the festival does not drift, and nearly the whole country observes it on the same day — under completely different names and with completely different rituals. In Gujarat and Maharashtra it is Uttarayan and the kite-flying festival. In Punjab it is Maghi, and the day after Lohri. In Tamil Nadu it is Pongal, a four-day harvest festival. In Karnataka it is Suggi, in Andhra and Telangana it is Sankranti, in Assam it is Magh Bihu, in West Bengal it is Poush Sankranti with pithe and payesh, in Bihar and UP it is Khichdi Parva, and in Nepal it is Maghe Sankranti.
The festival is fundamentally about the harvest, the end of the inauspicious Kharmas period, and the northward movement of the sun (Uttarayan), which is considered the auspicious half of the year. It is also the traditional day for the Ganga Sagar Mela and the Kumbh Mela's main bathing dates in some years.
The one ritual almost universally present is taking a ritual bath at sunrise and eating something made from the new harvest — til and gur laddoos in the north and west, khichdi in the east, pongal in the south, pithe in Bengal. Donating til, gur, rice, and warm clothing is considered especially meritorious on this day, because it falls in the coldest part of the year.
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Til gud ghya, aani goad goad bola. Happy Makar Sankranti!
May this Uttarayan bring you sweetness and success. Happy Makar Sankranti!
Wishing you a harvest of happiness and a year of prosperity. Happy Sankranti!
May your kites fly high and your worries stay low. Happy Uttarayan!
Happy Pongal! May the new harvest bring you abundance and joy.
Wishing you and your family a very Happy Makar Sankranti. May the sun bless you.
Magh Bihu is here — may the year ahead be as warm as the Meji fire.
In the order a household actually does them.
Bathe before sunrise, ideally with til (sesame) added to the water. Where possible, a dip in a river or at a pilgrimage site is considered best.
Offer arghya to the rising sun with water and red flowers, and recite the Aditya Hridayam or the Surya mantra. Sun worship is the core of this festival, unlike most other Hindu festivals.
Donate til, gur, rice, dal and warm clothing. Khichdi and til-gur laddoos distributed to the needy on this day are considered especially meritorious.
Eat something made from the new harvest — khichdi, pongal, pithe or til laddoo — before any other food of the day.
Fly kites from rooftops through the day and into the evening, with the traditional shouts of 'kai po che'. Note the manja risk to birds and to people's necks — glass-coated string is banned in several states and dangerous everywhere.
This is where most festival sites give one national answer to a question that has several.
Uttarayan — the world's largest kite-flying festival. Gujarat declares a public holiday, Ahmedabad's rooftops fill from dawn, and the night-time kite flying with illuminated strings (tukkal) continues after dark. Maharashtra eats til-gur laddoos and exchanges the greeting 'til gud ghya, aani goad goad bola'.
Pongal, a four-day festival: Bhogi (bonfire of old things), Thai Pongal (the main day, with the pot boiling over), Mattu Pongal (cattle worship) and Kaanum Pongal (family visits). Celebrated on 14–17 January in most years.
Suggi in Karnataka and Sankranti in Andhra and Telangana. In Andhra, three days of Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanuma, with much attention on cattle decoration and the garelu (vada) preparation.
Maghi, the day after Lohri. Considered the start of the new financial year for some communities, with ritual bathing and charity. In Himachal it is Magha, with local fairs.
Poush Sankranti in Bengal, with pithe, patishapta and payesh made from the new rice. In Bihar and eastern UP it is Khichdi Parva, when khichdi is cooked and eaten as the day's primary food.
Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu — the harvest festival of Assam. Community feasts are cooked in temporary bamboo huts (bhelaghar) overnight, and the Meji, a bamboo structure, is burned the next morning.
Observed as Makar Sankranti with the Makar Mela, and it also marks the end of the month-long Dhanu Yatra in Bargarh.
Gift categories, honestly described — not a list of sponsored products.
The traditional Sankranti gift in the north and west, and directly tied to the day's ritual of donating til and gur.
Suits: parents, neighbours, family, colleagues
The Uttarayan gift. Buy cotton or nylon string, not glass-coated manja, which is banned in several states and injures birds and riders.
Suits: child, friends, family
Donating blankets and warm clothes is the most traditional Sankranti act of charity, since it falls in the coldest part of the year.
Suits: charity, community, workers
New rice, jaggery, sugarcane and coconut in one basket — on-theme for the harvest half of the festival.
Suits: family, relatives, neighbours
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With honest budget ranges and a difficulty rating for each.
String a line across the terrace with a few decorative kites hung on it, ready for the day's photographs. Practical use: it also gives you a place to store spare kites so they do not blow off the roof.
Budget: ₹200–₹800
A new clay pot on a hearth of bricks, with sugarcane stalks tied on either side and a turmeric plant. The pot boiling over is the ritual — keep the fire controlled and the pot only two-thirds full so it actually overflows rather than spilling everywhere.
Budget: ₹300–₹1,000
A bamboo-and-thatch structure built in the open with the community, burned the next morning. The bhelaghar is a temporary hut where the community feast is cooked the night before.
Budget: ₹1,000–₹5,000
A rangoli in warm browns, golds and yellows, with the sun and a kite motif at the centre. Sesame seeds can be used as a filling texture element.
Budget: ₹100–₹350
Including a note on why each dish belongs to this festival.
The essential Makar Sankranti sweet across the north and west — sesame and jaggery, both of which are warming foods for the coldest part of winter.
About 25 minutes
Ingredients
The Tamil harvest dish, cooked in the pot that boils over — the overflowing of the pot is itself the auspicious sign.
About 30 minutes
Ingredients
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Makar Sankranti falls on Wednesday 14 January 2026. Because it is a solar festival it does not drift with the lunar calendar, and almost all of India observes it on the same date.
Sesame and jaggery are warming foods, which matters because the festival falls in the coldest part of the winter. Both are also newly harvested or newly made, so eating them is a way of marking the harvest.
Pongal in Tamil Nadu coincides with Makar Sankranti and is the same solar event, but it is celebrated over four days — Bhogi, Thai Pongal, Mattu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal — with its own rituals.
Uttarayan is the sun's northward movement, which begins on Makar Sankranti and is considered the auspicious half of the solar year. In Gujarat the day is called Uttarayan and is the kite-flying festival.
Manja is kite string coated with powdered glass. It cuts the hands of people handling it, and it kills birds and injures motorcyclists every year during Uttarayan. It is banned in several Indian states, and cotton or plain nylon string works just as well.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026. This page covers a regionally specific festival — where practices differ, they are described separately rather than averaged. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.