Lohri

Traditional variation

Lohri is a Punjabi folk festival; no Dharmashastra tithi or kaal governs it. It is kept on the last night of Poh, the eve of Maghi (1 Magh), and 1 Magh is reckoned here as Vaisakhi (1 Vaisakh) is: the Hindu day, from sunrise to sunrise, in which the Sun enters sidereal Makara. A Sankranti during the night therefore still belongs to that Hindu day, and Lohri stays on the evening before it (13 January in 2023 and 2024, as in the Government of Punjab holiday lists and, for 2024, the Government of India list). The Makar Sankranti shown separately is the day of its Punya Kaal for bathing and charity, which moves to the next morning after a night Sankranti, so in such years it falls two days after Lohri (Lohri 13 January, Makar Sankranti 15 January 2024). Calendars that count 1 Magh from the civil date of the Sankranti give Lohri a day later when the Sankranti falls between midnight and sunrise; that day is shown as not selected. The same applies when the Sankranti falls before sunrise on 14 January, which in India last happened in 2013 (at New Delhi and Chandigarh in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013): Lohri is then 12 January here and 13 January by the civil date. Outside India the Hindu day begins at the local sunrise, so in the Americas and Europe Lohri can fall on 12 January (Toronto 2026, London 2025) when the Sankranti comes before the local sunrise of 14 January. Follow your local calendar.

This is the date given by the rule shown above for the selected place. It is not the only valid date: regional Panchangs, family customs and sampradayas may observe it on a different day.

Rule source: Punjabi folk tradition: Lohri is kept on the eve of Maghi (the last night of solar Poh). Maghi, 1 Magh of the Punjabi solar calendar, is reckoned like Vaisakhi (1 Vaisakh): the Hindu day (sunrise to next sunrise) that contains the sidereal Makara ingress; Lohri is the day before it, whatever day the Makar Sankranti Punya Kaal falls on. Government of Punjab holiday notifications 2021-2026 and the Government of India (DoPT) order for 2024: Lohri on 13 January, also after the night ingresses of 14 January 2023 (20:57 IST) and 15 January 2024 (02:54 IST). Rashtriya Panchang (Government of India almanac, IMD): Lohri 13 January 2025, 2026 and 2027 (Saka 1948, item 66; ingress 14 January 2027, 21:14 IST). No official list has yet been checked for a year with the ingress before sunrise on 14 January (last 2013), where this rule gives 12 January and the civil-date reckoning 13 January (shown as not selected)

Traditions may vary by region and Panchang convention. Times are shown for the selected place, time zone and calculation profile.

Calculated with engine 1.4.2 · rules rules-2026-09-29-a0a4505e · profile north-lahiri-calibrated v1 · ayanamsa lahiri_drik_compat · astronomy-engine@2.1.19 · Asia/Kolkata