Mesha Sankranti
The Sun enters sidereal Mesha (a Vishuva Sankranti): the day of the Mesha Sankranti Punya Kaal for bathing, charity and Surya worship. The regional New Year festivals of this Sankranti (Vaisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu) fix their days by their own rules and can fall a day apart from it.
Festival reminders are on for this device. Manage all reminders
- CategoryFestival Major
- DeitySurya Dev
- Defining tithi / momentExact moment:
Timings on Wednesday, 14 April 2027
- Punya Kaal to 7 h 1 min · 14/04/2027 (Wed)
- Maha Punya Kaal to 4 h 7 min · 14/04/2027 (Wed)
Rule applied: Smarta — Daytime Sankranti (Vishuva: Mesha or Tula), 10 ghatis before and after, within sunrise–sunset. (Setting: Sankranti Punya Kaal: classical ghati spans per Sankranti type (as in most North Indian Panchangs))
Why this date?
- Daytime Sankranti (Vishuva: Mesha or Tula), 10 ghatis before and after, within sunrise–sunset.
Across India
How this festival is celebrated in different regions, with the regional names and each date's rule.
How the date is determined
- It is the moment the Sun enters sidereal Mesha (Aries).
- 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).
- Sidereal positions use the ayanamsa of your calculation profile; a different ayanamsa can shift the moment by several minutes.
Traditional variation
Some texts give the Vishuva Sankrantis (Mesha, Tula) 15 ghatis on either side instead of 10; the day is the same. Vaisakhi (Punjab), Vishu (Kerala) and Puthandu (Tamil Nadu) fall on this Sankranti but fix their day by their own calendar rules, so they can be a day apart from this date.
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: Sidereal Mesha ingress (profile ayanamsa); Punya Kaal 10 ghatis before and after the moment, within sunrise-sunset (Dharma Sindhu, Sankranti-nirnaya: Vishuva punya on both sides; Smriti Muktaphala, "ubhayato dasha" ghatis); an ingress at night before the Hindu midnight counts on the same day, after it on the next day
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
Dates in 2026
| Date | Defining tithi / moment | Time windows | Decision notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14/04/2026 (Tue) | Exact moment: |
|
|
Dates in 2027
| Date | Defining tithi / moment | Time windows | Decision notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14/04/2027 (Wed) Next | Exact moment: |
|
|