Makar Sankranti 2020
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 moment01:52
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 2020
- Vasant Panchami — 30 January 2020
- Maha Shivaratri — 21 February 2020
- Holika Dahan — 9 March 2020
- Holi — 10 March 2020
- Chaitra Navratri begins — 25 March 2020
- Ram Navami — 2 April 2020
- Akshaya Tritiya — 26 April 2020
- Jagannath Rath Yatra — 23 June 2020
- Guru Purnima — 5 July 2020
- Nag Panchami — 25 July 2020
- Raksha Bandhan — 3 August 2020
- Krishna Janmashtami — 11 August 2020
- Hartalika Teej — 21 August 2020
- Ganesh Chaturthi — 22 August 2020
- Anant Chaturdashi — 1 September 2020
- Pitru Paksha begins — 2 October 2020
- Sharad Navratri begins — 17 October 2020
- Durga Ashtami — 24 October 2020
- Maha Navami — 25 October 2020
- Dussehra / Vijayadashami — 25 October 2020
- Karwa Chauth — 4 November 2020
- Dhanteras — 13 November 2020
- Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) — 14 November 2020
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) — 14 November 2020
- Govardhan Puja — 16 November 2020
- Bhai Dooj — 16 November 2020
- Chhath Puja — 20 November 2020
- Kartik Purnima (Dev Deepawali) — 30 November 2020
- Guru Nanak Jayanti — 30 November 2020
- Hindu Festivals 2020 →