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Festival Calendar

Makar Sankranti 2018

The Sun's entry into sidereal Capricorn — kite-flying, til-gud and holy dips; celebrated as Pongal in the south.

Makar Sankranti 2017Makar Sankranti 2019
Looking for this year? See when Makar Sankranti 2026 falls
Makar Sankranti 2018 date
Sunday, 14 January 2018
Tithi: Solar festival — Sankranti
Sankranti moment: 01:33 PM (IST)
See the full panchang for Sunday, 14 January 2018

Muhurat & timings

Kashi/IST · astronomically computed
  • Sankranti moment13:33

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 katha

Makar 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 2018