Makar Sankranti 2029
मकर संक्रांति
Makar Sankranti falls on Sunday, 14 January 2029 in New Delhi.
Makar Sankranti marks the Sun's entry into Makara, the sidereal sign of Capricorn, and it's one of the few big Hindu festivals set by the Sun rather than the moon. Across India it appears under many names as a harvest festival, with sesame, jaggery, kites and river baths.
Why this date
CalculatedThis is a solar date, not a lunar one. The festival follows the moment the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn, which is why it stays around 14 or 15 January while other festivals move by weeks. If the entry happens after sunset, the observance usually moves to the next morning.
That’s 1 days earlier than 15 January 2028 last year.
2029 date by city
| New Delhi | Sun, 14 Jan |
|---|---|
| Mumbai | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Kolkata | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Chennai | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Bengaluru | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Hyderabad | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Ahmedabad | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Pune | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Jaipur | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Lucknow | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Patna | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Varanasi | Sun, 14 Jan |
| London | Sun, 14 Jan |
| New York | Sun, 14 Jan |
| San Francisco | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Toronto | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Sydney | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Singapore | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Dubai | Sun, 14 Jan |
| Port Louis | Sun, 14 Jan |
Dates in bold differ from New Delhi’s. Calculated by rule; local practice can differ.
One festival, many stories
Across IndiaThe Sun enters Makara
The basic event is astronomical, and you can compute it: the Sun reaches the start of sidereal Capricorn. Tradition calls the months that follow uttarayana, the Sun's northward journey. In fact the Sun's turning point, the winter solstice, comes around 21 December. The two were once close, and the slow wobble of Earth's axis, precession, has pulled them about three weeks apart.
Pan-Indian epic traditionBhishma waits on his bed of arrows
In the Mahabharata, the old warrior Bhishma has the power to choose when he dies, and he holds on until the Sun's northward course begins. It's the best-known text behind the idea that uttarayana is a favourable time. The epic speaks of the Sun's northward turn, not of a festival by this name.
Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Assam, Gujarat and MaharashtraOne season, many festivals
Tamil families cook new rice at Pongal. Punjabi families light bonfires the night before at Lohri. Assam has Magh Bihu, Gujarat fills the sky with kites at Uttarayan, and in Maharashtra you hand over sesame sweets saying “tilgul ghya, god god bola”, take this and speak sweetly. These are local customs, and most of them have more to do with the harvest and the cold than with a shared text.
BengalGanga Sagar
Huge numbers of pilgrims bathe at Sagar Island, where the Ganga meets the sea. Lochtefeld's encyclopedia describes the festival as primarily a bathing festival, and Sagar is one of its biggest gatherings.
Common questions
What people do
- Bathing in a river or at home in the early morning
- Giving and eating sesame and jaggery sweets, or khichdi in parts of north India
- Flying kites in Gujarat and parts of north India
- Cooking the year's new rice at Pongal, and thanking the Sun and cattle
Why is Makar Sankranti almost always on 14 or 15 January?
Because it follows the Sun rather than the moon, and the Gregorian calendar follows the Sun too. It moves very slowly: precession pushes it about one day later roughly every 70 years, which is why it was closer to 12 or 13 January in earlier generations.
Is Makar Sankranti the winter solstice?
No, not any more. The solstice comes around 21 December, about three weeks earlier. The sidereal Capricorn entry was once near it, but the two have drifted apart over many centuries.
Are Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti the same festival?
They're separate regional festivals at the same point in the year. Each has its own customs, though they all mark the same solar moment or the night before it.
Ask your elders
“Ask your grandparents what was in the sweet they exchanged at Sankranti and who it went to first. Did a neighbour ever hand them tilgul after a quarrel, and did it actually work?”
Sources
- James G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Rosen, 2002), entry “Makara Sankranti”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Hinduism” (Makar Sankranti and Pongal)
- Mahabharata, Bhishma and Anushasana Parvas
- Spasht calendar engine (Swiss Ephemeris, Lahiri ayanamsa)