Sankranti 2027

Dates computed by our astronomy engine from the Sun's sidereal position (Drik Ganita, Lahiri Ayanamsa).

When is Sankranti in 2027?

What Sankranti Celebrates

Makara Sankranti (మకర సంక్రాంతి) marks the Sun's entry into Makara Rashi (Capricorn) and the beginning of Uttarayana — the Sun's six-month northward journey, considered the most auspicious half of the year. Unlike most Telugu festivals, which follow the Moon's Tithis, Sankranti follows the Sun — which is why it falls on nearly the same Gregorian date every year (January 14–15) while lunar festivals drift.

For the Telugu states it is the great harvest festival — the year's biggest homecoming, when cities empty into villages, and four days of celebration honour the harvest, the cattle, and the land.

The Four Days

Bhogi (January 14)

The festival opens before dawn with Bhogi mantalu — community bonfires into which old and unwanted things are offered, symbolising the burning away of the old year. In the evening, families shower young children with Bhogi pallu (regi/jujube fruits mixed with flower petals and coins) to ward off ill effects and bless them.

Makara Sankranti (January 15)

The main day. Courtyards bloom with elaborate rangoli muggulu crowned with gobbemmalu (balls of cow dung decorated with flowers and turmeric). Homes prepare the classic Sankranti pindi vantalu — ariselu, chakkilalu (chakinalu), and pongali. The Haridasu arrives at dawn singing with his akshaya patra, and gangireddu teams lead their magnificently decorated bulls door to door. Daana (charity) — especially of til (sesame), rice and clothes — is considered especially meritorious on this day.

Kanuma (January 16)

The day of gratitude to cattle and farm animals — the partners of the harvest. Bulls and cows are bathed, decorated and honoured; in coastal Andhra especially, Kanuma is inseparable from the festival. Many regions continue to a fourth day, Mukkanuma, of family gatherings and feasting.

Sankranti and the Skies

Kite flying fills Telugu skies through the Sankranti season. The festival's timing also carries an astronomical story: because of the slow precession of the Earth's axis, the sidereal Makara transit — and with it Sankranti — drifts about one day later every ~72 years against the Gregorian calendar. Our Panchangam guide explains the sidereal system behind it.

Regional Sankranti Traditions

Sankranti is celebrated a little differently across the Telugu regions and the wider South:

• Coastal Andhra keeps the grandest four-day festival — elaborate muggulu with gobbemmalu, Haridasu and gangireddu visits, Bhogi pallu for children, and, in some districts, the controversial tradition of kodi pందేలు (cockfights) and rural fairs. Kanuma, the day for cattle, is especially important here.
• Telangana marks the harvest with community feasts, kite flying and the return of families to their native villages, with Bhogi bonfires opening the festival.
• Rayalaseema blends Andhra and Karnataka customs, with cattle worship and village fairs prominent on Kanuma and Mukkanuma.

Across South India the same solar festival takes different names on the same dates — Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makara Sankranti in Karnataka, and Uttarayana in the wider tradition — all marking the Sun's turn toward the north and the celebration of the harvest.

Related Guides

• Telugu Festivals 2027 — the full computed 2027 calendar
• Telugu Festivals 2026 — this year's guide
• Telugu Calendar guide — how solar and lunar festivals differ