Makar Sankranti 1963
The Sun's entry into sidereal Capricorn — kite-flying, til-gud and holy dips; celebrated as Pongal in the south.
Muhurat & timings
Kashi/IST · astronomically computed- Sankranti moment11:00
Festival days follow the classical attribution rules — udaya (sunrise), pradosha (evening), nishita (midnight), madhyahna or aparahna vyapini as each festival prescribes — computed for Kashi/Varanasi (IST). Regional observance can differ by a day in some years.
Read the Makar Sankranti puja vidhi, vrat rules and kathaMakar Sankranti — Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Makar Sankranti fall on almost the same date every year?
It is a solar festival, fixed by the Sun's entry into sidereal Makara, not by a lunar tithi. Lunar festivals drift against the civil calendar; this one does not.
What is punya kaal?
The meritorious window reckoned from the moment of the sankranti, during which bathing and charity carry the festival's full merit. If the sankranti falls after sunset, it shifts to the next morning.
Why are til and gur given on this day?
Sesame and jaggery are exchanged with the wish that speech between the giver and receiver stay sweet. Giving — of til, gur, blankets or grain — is the central act of the day.
Other major festivals in 1963
- Vasant Panchami — 30 January 1963
- Maha Shivaratri — 22 February 1963
- Holika Dahan — 9 March 1963
- Holi — 11 March 1963
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 26 March 1963
- Ram Navami — 2 April 1963
- Akshaya Tritiya — 26 April 1963
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 23 June 1963
- Guru Purnima — 6 July 1963
- Nag Panchami — 25 July 1963
- Raksha Bandhan — 5 August 1963
- Hartalika Teej — 22 August 1963
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 23 August 1963
- Anant Chaturdashi — 2 September 1963
- Pitru Paksha begins — 4 September 1963
- Sharad Navratri begins — 18 September 1963
- Durga Ashtami — 26 September 1963
- Maha Navami — 27 September 1963
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 28 September 1963
- Hindu Festivals 1963 →