Makar Sankranti 2027: the Sun turns north
Makar Sankranti is the day the Sun enters the sign of Makara. Unlike most festivals it follows the Sun, not the Moon, and so it falls on nearly the same English date each year. In Maharashtra it is the day of til-gul: "Tilgul ghya, god god bola".
When it falls next
Makar Sankranti in each region
What Makar Sankranti is
A sankranti is the Sun's passage from one sign to the next, and there are twelve in a year. Makar Sankranti begins the Sun's northward course, uttarayan, which the tradition counts as an auspicious half of the year.
It is also a harvest festival, at the end of the winter crop, and a day of giving: sesame, jaggery, grain and warm clothes, and a holy dip in a river for those who can.
How families keep it at home
In Maharashtra families make til-gul, sweets of sesame and jaggery, and give them to everyone they meet with the words "Tilgul ghya, god god bola": take this sweet, and speak sweetly. Old quarrels are meant to end with it.
The day before, Bhogi, is kept with a meal of the season's vegetables, bajra bhakri with sesame and a mixed vegetable dish.
Women hold haldi-kunku through the following days, inviting other women home and giving them a small gift, the vaan, in an earthen pot called a sugad.
A newly married bride's first Sankranti is kept specially, with ornaments made of halwa, sugar-coated sesame, and a child's first is kept with a bor nhan, a shower of berries and sweets.
How it differs by region
In Gujarat it is Uttarayan, the day of kites, flown from every rooftop from morning till evening.
In Tamil Nadu it is Pongal, kept over several days with rice boiled in milk until it overflows. In Punjab the evening before is Lohri, with a bonfire.
In Assam it is Magh Bihu, with feasts, and in the north a day of khichdi and of bathing in the Ganga.
How its date is set
Makar Sankranti is the day the Sun enters Makara in the sidereal zodiac. It is a solar date, not a tithi, so it falls on almost the same English date every year, and moves by a day when the Sun's entry falls late in the day.
Read the Surya aarti and the Aditya Hridayam.