Makara Sankranti is Pedda Panduga, the big festival of the Telugu year. The Sun enters Makara (Capricorn) and begins its northward course, Uttarayanam; the paddy is in; and the cities empty as people go back to their villages. It is a festival of the doorstep and the street more than of the temple.
The story
Sankranti is one of the few Hindu festivals fixed by the Sun, which is why it stays on the same January days while everything else moves. Uttarayanam, the half-year in which the Sun travels north, is held to be the daytime of the gods; Bhishma, in the Mahabharata, lay on his bed of arrows waiting for it before he let go of life.
For a farming people it is first of all the harvest. The new rice is cooked with jaggery and milk and offered to the Sun, and the ancestors are remembered with offerings before the family eats.
How it is kept
- Muggulu and gobbemmaluDoorsteps carry elaborate rangoli through the whole month. On Sankranti the chariot pattern (ratham muggu) is drawn, and girls sing as they circle the gobbemmalu.
- Haridasu and GangiredduThe Haridasu walks the streets singing of Vishnu, a pot balanced on his head for alms of rice. The Gangireddu men lead a decorated bull that bows and dances to the nadaswaram.
- The foodAriselu of new rice and jaggery, sakinalu in Telangana, pongali, bobbatlu, and sesame in every form.
- KitesIn Hyderabad and across Telangana the sky is full of kites for three days.
- GivingSesame, jaggery, pumpkins and new clothes are given away, and offerings are made in the name of the ancestors.
Why this date
Makara Sankranti is the day the Sun enters the sidereal sign of Makara (Capricorn). When that moment falls after midday, Telugu practice keeps the festival on the following day, which this calendar follows. Because it is a solar date it stays on 14 or 15 January, drifting later by about a day every seventy years.
Makara Sankranti in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Tuesday | |
| 2026 | Thursday | |
| 2027 | Friday | |
| 2028 | Saturday | |
| 2029 | Sunday | |
| 2030 | Tuesday |
More Telugu festivals
14 JanuaryBhogiభోగి
16 JanuaryKanumaకనుమ
25 JanuaryRatha Saptamiరథ సప్తమి
15 FebruaryMaha Sivaratriమహా శివరాత్రి
3 MarchHoliహోళీ
19 MarchUgadiఉగాది
Where to see Makara Sankranti
In the Telugu states
- KonaseemaAndhra PradeshCockfights are banned and still the talk of the delta; what a visitor can freely see is every lane of every village drawn over with muggulu.
- SrisailamAndhra PradeshThe temple holds a week of Sankranti Brahmotsavams, with the wedding of Mallikarjuna and Bhramaramba on the festival day.
- Parade Grounds, SecunderabadTelanganaTelangana's international kite and sweet festival is held on these three days.
Across India
- AhmedabadGujaratUttarayan: the whole city is on its rooftops flying kites from dawn, and lanterns after dark.
- SabarimalaKeralaThe pilgrimage season ends with Makaravilakku, when the light is seen on the hill opposite the shrine.
- GangasagarWest BengalHundreds of thousands bathe where the Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal.
- PrayagrajUttar PradeshThe Magh Mela at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna opens its main bathing days.