Hindu festival · San Francisco Bay Area

Makar Sankranti

Surya Pan-India / North / West Major festival Surya

Dates for the Bay Area

  • Wednesday, 14 January 2026Major festival
  • Thursday, 14 January 2027Major festivalnext
  • Friday, 14 January 2028Major festival
Traditions differ. What follows describes common practice, not the only correct practice. Observance varies by region, sampradāya and family, and Sri Kumar Gurukkal will follow your family’s tradition. Our editorial & ritual standards →

Why it matters

Makara Saṅkrānti is the moment the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn) in the sidereal zodiac. It is popularly taken as the start of the Sun's northward course (Uttarāyaṇa) and is one of the few Hindu festivals reckoned by the solar calendar. Across India it is a harvest thanksgiving under many regional names.

Where it falls

Makara Saṅkrānti is the pivot of the sequence. It comes after Bhogi and Lohṛī, falls on the same day as Tai Poṅgal, and is followed by Kanuma and Māṭṭu Poṅgal.

The story behind it

Tradition treats the Sun's turn northward as auspicious, and the day honours Sūrya as the source of life and harvest. A Purāṇic story says Sūrya visits his son Śani on this day despite their strained relationship. Sesame is linked to the occasion, so the day is also called Til Saṅkrānti.

Prayers and worship

Sūrya is worshipped widely. Many people bathe in sacred rivers, with large gatherings at Prayāgrāj and at Gaṅgāsāgar in Bengal. In Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), khicṛī is offered to Guru Gorakhnāth. In Assam, Māgh (Bhogālī) Bihu centres on the dawn Mejī fire.

How families keep it

Customs vary by region. Gujarat (Uttarāyaṇ) is known for kite-flying. Karnataka families exchange ellu-bella in a custom called ellu bīrodu. Andhra and Telangana homes draw muggulu and welcome Haridāsu singers and Gaṅgireddu performing bulls. Maharashtrians exchange til-gul and ask one another to speak sweetly.

What is typically offered

Sesame-and-jaggery sweets are typical: til-gul in Maharashtra, and ellu-bella with sakkare accu sugar figures and sugarcane in Karnataka. Khicṛī is made in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Assamese homes make piṭhā and lāru. Telugu families prepare ariselu, and Tamil homes cook poṅgal.

Visiting a temple that day

This is a solar festival with many regional names—Pongal, Uttarayan and related harvest observances may be listed separately.

Sources for this page (16)

The description above is this site’s own, researched from the sources below and written in our words; each section rests on at least two of them. It has not been reviewed by Sri Kumar Gurukkal, and it describes how families commonly keep the day — your family’s tradition comes first.

  1. Makar Sankranti (Hindu festival), by Charles Preston — Encyclopaedia Britannica
  2. Makar Sankranti — Wikipedia
  3. Sankranti celebrations follow the sun (Rashmi Bora Das, 14 Jan 2024) — India Currents
  4. Makar Sankranti — Maharashtra Tourism, Government of Maharashtra
  5. Pongal (festival) — Wikipedia
  6. Pongalo Pongal (Jan/Feb/Mar 2023, By Young Writers) — Hinduism Today
  7. Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bihu, Uttarayan celebrated across India (14 Jan 2025) — All India Radio News (Prasar Bharati)
  8. UP: Annual Khichdi Mela to begin at Gorakhnath temple (14 Jan 2026) — ThePrint (PTI)
  9. Makar Sankranti in Karnataka: date, significance and celebration of Suggi Habba (15 Jan 2018) — India.com
  10. Sankranti celebrations a legacy rooted in AP's traditions (12 Jan 2025) — Deccan Chronicle
  11. The quintessential feature of traditional Sankranti, Haridasu: a vanishing tradition (7 Jan 2025) — The Hans India
  12. Til Gul Ghya God God Bola! Understanding the significance of til and gud during Makar Sankranti (14 Jan 2025) — Free Press Journal
  13. Why is Tilgul given on Makar Sankranti? — Amar Chitra Katha
  14. Brisk sale of ellu bella (13 Jan 2021) — Deccan Herald
  15. Magh Bihu — Wikipedia
  16. Bhogi — Wikipedia

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Related festivals

Thai PongalRatha SaptamiBaisakhi / VaisakhiPana SankrantiPuthandu
← Maha ShivaratriMalayalam New Year / Chingam 1 → Full festival calendar

Major harvest/solar festival. The 2026–27 dates were compiled from a Northern-California Panchāṅgam reference for the Fremont / Bay Area location. The 2028 date is computed by this site’s own engine from the festival’s standard definition, tested against the 2026–27 dates: the Bay Area day on which the Sun enters Makara (sidereal). No 2028 date has been checked against a printed almanac or reviewed by Sri Kumar Gurukkal. They can differ from a calendar computed for another city or another sampradāya. Please confirm any date on which you plan a ceremony with Sri Kumar Gurukkal. How these dates are calculated →