Makar Sankranti across India

1. Observed 1 day(s) before the Hindu day (sunrise to the next sunrise) that contains the moment of Makar Sankranti, whatever day Makar Sankranti itself is kept on.

See how the date of Makar Sankranti is determined

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.

Lohri

1. It is the moment the Sun enters sidereal Makara (Capricorn).
2. The day and Punya Kaal follow the classical ghati spans for each kind of Sankranti (ghati = 1/30 of the daytime): Makara 40 after, Karka 30 before, Mesha and Tula 10 before and after, Vrishabha, Simha, Vrishchika and Kumbha 16 before, Mithuna, Kanya, Dhanu and Meena 16 after, kept within sunrise–sunset; Maha Punya Kaal is 5 ghatis. A Sankranti at night before midnight counts in the same day's afternoon, after midnight in the next morning (Makara always the next day).
3. Sidereal positions use the ayanamsa of your calculation profile; a different ayanamsa can shift the moment by several minutes.

If the Sankranti moment falls after sunset, most North Indian Panchangs observe it the next day. Tamil, Kerala and Bengal rules for the solar-month start differ slightly.

Makar Sankranti

1. It is the moment the Sun enters sidereal Makara (Capricorn).
2. The day and Punya Kaal follow the classical ghati spans for each kind of Sankranti (ghati = 1/30 of the daytime): Makara 40 after, Karka 30 before, Mesha and Tula 10 before and after, Vrishabha, Simha, Vrishchika and Kumbha 16 before, Mithuna, Kanya, Dhanu and Meena 16 after, kept within sunrise–sunset; Maha Punya Kaal is 5 ghatis. A Sankranti at night before midnight counts in the same day's afternoon, after midnight in the next morning (Makara always the next day).
3. Sidereal positions use the ayanamsa of your calculation profile; a different ayanamsa can shift the moment by several minutes.

Tamil panchangs on the Vakya system compute the Sankranti differently and can differ by a day; the date here uses the drik (Thirukanitha) ingress with the ayanamsa of your calculation profile.

Thai Pongal