Makar Sankranti 2017
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 moment07:24
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 2017
- Vasant Panchami — 1 February 2017
- Maha Shivaratri — 24 February 2017
- Holika Dahan — 12 March 2017
- Holi — 13 March 2017
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 28 March 2017
- Ram Navami — 4 April 2017
- Akshaya Tritiya — 28 April 2017
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 25 June 2017
- Guru Purnima — 9 July 2017
- Nag Panchami — 28 July 2017
- Raksha Bandhan — 7 August 2017
- Krishna Janmashtami — 14 August 2017
- Hartalika Teej — 24 August 2017
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 25 August 2017
- Anant Chaturdashi — 5 September 2017
- Pitru Paksha begins — 7 September 2017
- Sharad Navratri begins — 21 September 2017
- Durga Ashtami — 28 September 2017
- Maha Navami — 29 September 2017
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 30 September 2017
- Karwa Chauth — 8 October 2017
- Dhanteras — 17 October 2017
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 18 October 2017
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 19 October 2017
- Govardhan Puja — 20 October 2017
- Bhai Dooj — 21 October 2017
- Chhath Puja — 26 October 2017
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 4 November 2017
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 4 November 2017
- Hindu Festivals 2017 →