Makar Sankranti
Also called Uttarayan
The sun turns north.
When it falls
Friday, 15 January 2027, the sun crosses at 21:15 IST the evening before
The sun enters the sign after sunset, so many keep the day that follows.
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Sidereal ingress of the sun into Makara
- Which day
- The instant of the crossing
- The crossing is an instant; what is observed is the punya kaal derived from it. Where the crossing falls after sunset the bathing customarily moves to the following morning. The derivation differs between traditions, so the rule followed is named beside any time published.
- Weight
- One of the year's great days
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Makar Sankranti is the sun's entry into Makara, and the start of the northward half of the solar year. It is the largest single bathing day of the Indian calendar, and the day the Magh Mela at Prayagraj opens. It is kept under many names across the country on the same morning: Pongal, Magh Bihu, Uttarayan, Maghi. Because it follows the sun it falls on almost the same Gregorian date every year, in recent decades the fourteenth or fifteenth of January, so it can be planned months ahead.
Where it is kept
All six waters.
Triveni Sangam
Sangam, Prayagraj
Purnimanta reckoning
The Sangam on Makar Sankranti is the opening day of the Magh Mela and the largest gathering on this list by a wide margin.
Ganga
Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
Purnimanta reckoning
Har Ki Pauri keeps the crossing with a full morning of bathing, most crowded before the sun is properly up.
Godavari
Ram Kund, Nashik
Amanta reckoning
In Maharashtra the day is Makar Sankrant, kept at Ram Kund with the bathing and the exchange of tilgul that goes with it.
Shipra
Ram Ghat, Ujjain
Purnimanta reckoning
Ram Ghat keeps the crossing. Ujjain's relationship to the sun is old, and the day is marked as such.
Yamuna
Vishram Ghat, Mathura
Purnimanta reckoning
Vishram Ghat keeps the bathing, quietly, without the scale of the Ganga ghats.
Kaveri
Talakaveri, Kodagu
Amanta reckoning
The crossing is kept here too, though the Kaveri's own great day is Tula Sankramana in October.
The windows
Brahma Muhurat
about 48 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Two muhurtas of the night before sunrise, until one muhurta before it. A night muhurta is a fifteenth of the night, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in winter.
Brahma Muhurat falls before sunrise, so it belongs to the panchang day that opened at the previous sunrise, and the Gregorian date beside it is the next day. The calendar keeps the two apart.
Pratah Snan
about 96 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Sunrise, until two muhurtas of the day after it. A day muhurta is a fifteenth of the daylight, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in summer.
This window sits after sunrise, so its panchang day and its Gregorian date agree.
Abhijit Muhurat
about 48 minutes
From the sun's transit
- Definition
- The eighth of the fifteen equal muhurtas of the day, half a muhurta either side of the sun's true transit, not of clock noon.
Tradition leaves Abhijit out on a Wednesday, and so does this calendar.
Every time is given at the ghat first, and in your own zone beside it. How the clock is read
Where the timing comes from
- Source
- Computed here, checked against Drik Panchang
- Ayanamsa
- Lahiri (Chitrapaksha)
- Ghat coordinates
- Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar: 29.9457, 78.1642
Textual basis
Makar Sankranti snan and daan are prescribed in the nibandha literature on kala, and the punya kaal rules differ between the authorities those nibandhas record. A citable edition and passage is still to be added.
Every date here is computed: the tithi at the ghat's sunrise, the month named by the sankranti it holds, and the sun's entry into each sign under the Lahiri ayanamsa. Tithi, nakshatra, sunrise and windows were checked against Drik Panchang for Haridwar on eight days between September 2026 and March 2027, to the minute. The dates roll forward each morning.