Makara Sankranti 2026

Makara Sankranti is the harvest festival and the turning of the sun toward the north. In 2026 it falls on Wednesday, January 14, in Pushya masa, with muggu at the door, pongali on the stove, and kites in the sky.

When is Makara Sankranti in 2026?

Makara Sankranti 2026 falls on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, during Pushya masa. The name comes from Makara (Capricorn) and Sankranti (the sun's passage from one sign into the next). On this day the sun moves into Makara rashi and begins Uttarayana, the half of the year when it travels north and the days grow longer.

The story and meaning of Sankranti

Sankranti is one of the few Telugu festivals fixed by the sun rather than the moon, which is why it sits close to the same January date each year. It is above all a harvest festival. The fields have given their grain, the granaries are full, and families thank the sun, the earth, and the cattle that made the harvest possible. It is the one festival where the farmer's year and the family's year line up.

Uttarayana, the sun's turn to the north, is also held to be a bright and auspicious stretch of the year. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma is remembered for waiting on his bed of arrows for Uttarayana to begin before he chose to leave the world, a sign of how much weight this turning carries. For most families, though, the feeling is simpler: warmth, plenty, and homecoming in the middle of winter.

How Telugu families observe Sankranti

For Telugu families it is a three-day festival:

• Bhogi (day one): a bonfire of old things at dawn, letting go of the past year. Young children receive Bhogi pallu, a shower of regi pandlu (jujube berries), petals, and coins for blessings.
• Sankranti (day two): the main day. Doorways carry large muggu (rangoli) topped with gobbemmalu, little cow-dung flowers. Families cook pongali, ariselu, and a festive meal, and remember the ancestors.
• Kanuma (day three): cattle are bathed, decorated, and honoured for their work in the fields. In many homes this is the day for family and feasting.

Through the season, doorsteps in Andhra and Telangana fill with intricate muggu, often drawn fresh before dawn, and Haridasus and Gangireddu (decorated bulls) move through the streets in the villages. Kite-flying fills the afternoon skies, and the sweet til-jaggery treats of the season are shared with the greeting that we should speak sweet words through the year.

The foods of Sankranti

The dish of the festival is pongali, rice and dal cooked together, made in a sweet form with jaggery and in a savoury, peppered form. Letting the pot boil over is taken as a sign of abundance for the year. Ariselu, deep-fried rounds of rice flour and jaggery, are the festive sweet that many families spend the day before preparing, and sesame-and-jaggery sweets stand for warmth and sweet words. Together they turn a harvest into a feast.

Celebrating Sankranti in the US

Telugu associations across the US hold Sankranti sambaralu with muggu contests, music, and food, usually on a nearby weekend, while families keep their own Bhogi bonfire (often a small symbolic one) and pongali at home. For children growing up abroad, the muggu and the kite-flying are an easy, hands-on way into the festival, and many associations build the day around them. It is a season of warmth in the middle of a cold American January.

Because Sankranti is set by the exact instant the sun enters Makara, the day it is observed depends on whether that moment falls before or after local sunrise. That instant is the same worldwide, but your sunrise is not, so the US date can land a day off from India. Sampangi works out the date for the city where you celebrate, so your Sankranti, and every family birthday, sits on its correct day for where you live.

Related festivals

Sankranti opens the festival year in winter. A month later comes Maha Shivaratri, and in spring the Telugu new year, Ugadi, begins a fresh cycle. See the full Telugu festivals 2026 calendar, or learn how to find your own Telugu birthday.

Makara Sankranti dates by year

Here are the Makara Sankranti dates for the next few years, using standard (India) reckoning. Your US date can land a day off, because local sunrise decides the tithi, so check yours in the app.

Year	Makara Sankranti date
2026	Wednesday, January 14, 2026
2027	Thursday, January 14, 2027
2028	Saturday, January 15, 2028

Makara Sankranti FAQs

When is Makara Sankranti in 2026?

Makara Sankranti falls on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. It marks the sun entering Makara (Capricorn) and the start of Uttarayana, the sun’s journey north.

When is Makara Sankranti in 2027?

Makara Sankranti 2027 falls around Thursday, January 14, 2027 by standard reckoning, though some panchangams list it on January 15 because the solar moment sits close to the sunrise boundary. Sankranti is a solar festival, so it stays near January 14 to 15 every year.

Why might the US date for Sankranti differ from India?

Sankranti is set by the moment the sun crosses into Makara rashi, which is a fixed instant in universal time. Whether that lands before or after sunrise decides the day it is observed, so the local date can shift by a day between India and the US.

How is Sankranti celebrated in Telugu homes?

Telugu Sankranti is a three-day harvest festival: Bhogi, Sankranti, and Kanuma. Homes draw muggu (rangoli) with gobbemmalu, cook pongali and ariselu, fly kites, and honour cattle on Kanuma.

Is Makara Sankranti the same as Pongal?

They fall on the same day and share the harvest and Uttarayana theme. Pongal is the Tamil name and centres on the pongal dish, while Telugu families keep the three days of Bhogi, Sankranti, and Kanuma.

What do Telugu families cook for Sankranti?

The signature dishes are pongali (a rice-and-dal dish cooked in both sweet and savoury forms), ariselu (rice-flour and jaggery sweets), and til-jaggery treats. Many homes also prepare a large festive meal on the main Sankranti day.

Keep exploring: all Telugu festivals in 2026, find your Telugu birthday, what is a tithi? You might also like Ugadi and Maha Shivaratri.

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