India GOMakar Sankranti: the sun turns north
Kites, sesame sweets, and the sun's turn northward
Makar Sankranti marks the day the sun enters Makara (Capricorn) and, by tradition, turns north: a harvest festival on the solar calendar, so its date barely moves. In 2027 the sun crosses at 21:14 on 14 January, which puts the ritual bathing day on Friday 15 January, while the central government's restricted holiday list, Rajasthan's kite festival and Haridwar's mela keep Thursday 14 January. Either way, it is two days of kites on the rooftops, sesame sweets and dawn dips in the Ganga.
The sun turns north: India's great harvest and kite festival, on one of the only fixed-date Hindu holidays
The day the Sun enters Capricorn; when that happens after sunset, the bathing day is the next one. Central and state holiday lists sometimes keep 14 January.
The legend
Legend says that on this day Surya, the sun god, visits his son Shani, though the two do not get along.
Shani welcomes his father with black sesame, and Surya forgives his son.
That same day the sun enters Makara, Capricorn, and by tradition turns north.
So at Sankranti sesame and jaggery sweets go round: old grudges fade, and only sweetness is left.
Meaning
Gujarat
Uttarayan runs two days, 14 and 15 January: kites go up from the rooftops at dawn, with undhiyu and chikki to eat.
Maharashtra
Everyone swaps tilgul, and lunch brings gulachi poli, flatbreads filled with jaggery.
Assam
Magh Bihu: young people build bhelaghar huts, feast in them through the night, and burn them at dawn.
Sikhs
Maghi at Sri Muktsar Sahib: a fair in memory of the forty Sikhs who gave their lives for Guru Gobind Singh.
Bengal
Pilgrims head for Sagar Island, where the Ganga meets the sea, and at home pitha are made with date-palm jaggery.
Customs
🍬 Tilgul
Sesame-and-jaggery sweets go to neighbours and friends: eat something sweet, speak sweetly.
🪁 Kites
All day the sky is full of kites. Plain cotton string does the job: glass-coated and nylon manja injure birds and have been banned since 2017.
Holy dip
At dawn more than two million people step into the water at Prayagraj, Varanasi and Haridwar.
Khichdi
In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the festival is simply called Khichdi: rice and dal are cooked at home and offered to Guru Gorakhnath.
Ellu bella
In Karnataka girls in new clothes carry plates of sesame, peanuts, coconut and jaggery to the neighbours.
What people eat
🥜 Chikki
bars of sesame, peanuts and jaggery
🥘 Undhiyu
Gujarat's spiced bake of winter vegetables
🥟 Pitha
Bengali sweets of rice flour, coconut and milk
Words of the festival
मकर संक्रांति
Makar Sankranti
"the sun's passage into Capricorn"
तिळगूळ
tilgul
sesame with jaggery, Maharashtra's festival sweet
पतंग
patang
a kite, a paper-and-bamboo rhombus
ಎಳ್ಳು ಬೆಲ್ಲ
ellu bella
sesame, peanuts, coconut and jaggery, Karnataka's gift mix
খেজুরের গুড়
khejurer gur
date-palm jaggery, the heart of Bengali pitha
How to greet
तिळगूळ घ्या, गोड गोड बोला
Tilgul ghya, goad goad bola!
"Take this tilgul and speak sweetly": said in Maharashtra with every gift of sesame sweets.
True or myth
❌ Myth. It is a solar festival: usually 14 January, and 15 January in a leap year.
✅ True. Black is usually avoided on festival days, but on this winter day it keeps you warm, and women wear black saris.
❌ Myth. The solstice falls on 21 December. The two dates once coincided but are slowly drifting apart.
Where to celebrate
Varanasi
Makar Sankranti turns the Varanasi ghats into a bathing day: the sun crosses into Capricorn, Uttarayana begins, and the river steps fill from first light.
Haridwar
Makar Sankranti is the year's opening bathing day at Har Ki Pauri, taken from first light in midwinter cold, and in 2027 it is also the day the Ardh Kumbh is due to begin.
Jaipur
On Makar Sankranti the whole of Jaipur's walled city moves up one storey: the official kite festival runs on the Jal Mahal embankment, but the day itself belongs to the rooftops.
Udupi
Udupi marks Makara Sankramana, the day Madhvacharya is said to have installed the Krishna image: three chariots circle Car Street at night, and in even years the Paryaya follows on 18 January.
Why Makar Sankranti is celebrated
Makar Sankranti means "the sun's passage into Capricorn". It is a harvest thanksgiving: the winter crop is in, the worst of the cold is past, and the lengthening days are greeted with sunlight, sweets and the sky. A popular legend says that on this day Surya, the sun god, visits his son Shani, though the two do not get along; Shani welcomes his father with black sesame, and Surya forgives him. So sesame and jaggery sweets go round, old grudges fade, and only sweetness is left.
It is not the winter solstice, which falls on 21 December: the two dates once coincided and have slowly drifted apart. "Sankranti" alone means any of the sun's twelve monthly passages from one sign to the next; Makar Sankranti is the one into Capricorn.
One day, many names
Few festivals are as pan-Indian and as regionally distinct.
Gujarat: Uttarayan
Two days, 14 and 15 January, on the rooftops from dawn, with undhiyu (a spiced bake of winter vegetables) and chikki (sesame and peanut bars). Ahmedabad's International Kite Festival fills the week around them.
Maharashtra: tilgul
Sesame-and-jaggery sweets are handed out with "Tilgul ghya, goad goad bola" ("take this tilgul and speak sweetly"); lunch is gulachi poli, flatbread filled with jaggery, and women wear black saris, though black is usually avoided on festival days.
Punjab: Lohri and Maghi
The bonfire night of [Lohri](/en/festivals/lohri/) comes the evening before; the day itself is Maghi, with a fair at Sri Muktsar Sahib in memory of forty Sikhs who gave their lives for Guru Gobind Singh.
Tamil Nadu, Assam, Bengal, UP
Tamil Nadu keeps four days of [Pongal](/en/festivals/pongal/); Assam has Magh Bihu, with bhelaghar huts feasted in all night and burnt at dawn; Bengal makes pitha with date-palm jaggery and sends pilgrims to Sagar Island; in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the day is simply Khichdi, rice and dal offered to Guru Gorakhnath.
Where to spend Makar Sankranti
Choose between the sky and the river.
Jaipur: the rooftops
The whole walled city moves up one storey. Rajasthan Tourism's Kite Festival on the Jal Mahal embankment (Amer Road) is listed as free, but the day belongs to the rooftops around Hawa Mahal, Johari Bazaar, Badi Chaupar and Chandpole. Buy kites and cotton string in Handipura bazaar or Patang Walon Ka Rasta on the eve. A terrace is the real ticket: book a haveli with a usable roof, about two months ahead in high season. In 2026 a state order kept the sky clear 06:00–08:00 and 17:00–19:00 to protect birds.
Varanasi: the dawn dip
The ghats fill from first light, in the punya kaal (auspicious window) that opens at sunrise. Dashashwamedh and Assi are the main bathing points, and Kashi Vishwanath offers khichdi bhog that day. Sleep within walking distance of the river, between Assi and Dashashwamedh; about three weeks ahead is enough.
Haridwar: the mela opens
Sankranti is the year's opening bath at Har Ki Pauri, in midwinter cold and often fog. In 2027 it is also the first bath of the [Ardh Kumbh](/en/festivals/maha-kumbh-mela/), on 14 January, so book months rather than weeks ahead and sleep by the ghats.
Udupi and Bengaluru
Udupi marks Makara Sankramana, the day Madhvacharya is said to have installed the Krishna image: three chariots circle Car Street at night after a week of float festivals on the temple tank. In Bengaluru, at the Gavi Gangadhareshwara cave temple, the setting sun passes between the horns of the Nandi outside and falls on the lingam for a few minutes; the courtyard fills long before.
✅ Kites, crowds and cold
The day is cheerful and easy, with a few things worth knowing.
- Cotton string only — Glass-coated and nylon manja injure birds and have been banned since 2017. Buy plain cotton string.
- Watch the street — In Jaipur's old city children chase fallen kites at street level; look up and around before crossing, and keep away from metro tracks with a kite.
- Dawn at the ghats — Riverbank crowds are dense at sunrise: arrive before first light, keep valuables secure, and dress for January cold.
- Eat the season — Til-gul and chikki everywhere, undhiyu in Gujarat, pitha in Bengal, khichdi in the north, fresh Pongal in the south.
👣 Booking ahead
Jaipur and Haridwar in 2027 are the tight ones.
- Jaipur
About two months ahead for a room with a roof terrace; trains as soon as the 60-day window opens. Arrive the day before.
- Haridwar
In 2027, months ahead because of the Ardh Kumbh; in an ordinary year about a month.
- Varanasi and Udupi
About three weeks ahead; Udupi two months in even years, when the Paryaya follows on 18 January.
❓ FAQ
Is Makar Sankranti on 14 or 15 January in 2027?
Both are used. The sun enters Capricorn at 21:14 on 14 January, after sunset, so the ritual bathing day is 15 January; the central government's restricted holiday list, Gujarat, Rajasthan's kite festival and the Haridwar mela keep 14 January.
Why is Makar Sankranti celebrated?
It marks the sun's entry into Capricorn and its turn north, and gives thanks for the winter harvest as the days grow longer.
What is the difference between Sankranti and Makar Sankranti?
A sankranti is any monthly passage of the sun into a new zodiac sign, twelve a year. Makar Sankranti is the passage into Capricorn, the one celebrated across India.
What should we do on Makar Sankranti?
Take a dawn dip if you are by a sacred river, share sesame and jaggery sweets with neighbours, and fly kites with cotton string from a rooftop.
What food is eaten on Makar Sankranti?
Sesame and jaggery above all: til-gul, chikki, ellu bella in Karnataka. Gujarat cooks undhiyu, Bengal makes pitha, and the north eats khichdi.