The 2027 dates were checked on October 29, 2026 against three location-aware Drik Panchang Makar Sankranti calendars calculated for New Delhi, New York, and Los Angeles, with its 2027 Sankranti calendar for Chennai; AstroSage's Makar Sankranti and Lohri pages for New Delhi; ProKerala's Makar Sankranti and Pongal pages; the central government's holiday list as shown in the National Portal of India's January 2027 calendar; and the Government of India's Incredible India page for Jaipur's Kite Festival. This is a household-planning article. It does not provide spiritual instruction, fasting guidance, or health advice, and does not claim priest, scholar, or spiritual review. Makar Sankranti is observed in many regional and family forms; confirm your local dates and any tradition-specific details with a source your household trusts. Read Ghar's editorial policy.
Makar Sankranti 2027 is one moment with two possible dates, and that is the planning problem. The Sun moves into Makara on Thursday, January 14, after sunset in India and in the morning in the US, so the calendars checked keep the festival on Thursday in the US and on Thursday or Friday, January 15 in India, with Lohri and the four days of Pongal around it.
This guide stays with that planning problem: what the dates are, which local times to look up, and how to use ten weeks of runway so the middle of January does not arrive already full. It does not prescribe a puja sequence, offerings, fasting rules, or how the day should be kept. Makar Sankranti carries different names and traditions across regions and families, and your own household's version stays at the centre of the plan.
When is Makar Sankranti in 2027?
In the sources checked, Makar Sankranti 2027 falls on Thursday, January 14 in the US cities checked, and on Thursday, January 14 or Friday, January 15 in India, depending on the calendar. Drik Panchang lists Friday, January 15 for New Delhi and Thursday, January 14 for New York and Los Angeles, and AstroSage for New Delhi and ProKerala for Ujjain also give Friday. The central government's 2027 holiday list, shown on the National Portal of India, makes Thursday, January 14 a restricted holiday for Makar Sankranti, and Incredible India's page for Jaipur's Kite Festival also gives 14 January 2027.
Both Indian dates come from one moment. Drik Panchang's New Delhi page gives Thursday as the transit date, when the Sun moves into Makara, and Friday as the observation date. Drik Panchang and AstroSage both put the move on Thursday night, after sunset, and Drik Panchang notes that a Sankranti after sunset moves its Punya Kaal to the next sunrise. So a household that marks the day of the move keeps Thursday, and one that follows the observation date keeps Friday. Neither is wrong.
In the US the move comes in daylight: Drik Panchang's New York and Los Angeles calendars, and ProKerala's Eastern and Pacific timings, put it on Thursday morning. A Sankranti happens at one instant everywhere, so it lands at a different local time in each place, and on different sides of sunset. Ghar's guide to the Hindu calendar and panchang at home explains the mechanics.
For India, Drik Panchang and AstroSage both list Lohri on Thursday, January 14, and Drik Panchang's Sankranti calendar and ProKerala's Pongal page give the same four days of Pongal: Bhogi on Thursday, January 14, Thai Pongal on Friday, January 15, Mattu Pongal on Saturday, January 16, and Kaanum Pongal on Sunday, January 17. In the US, ask which evening your community is using for Lohri.
Confirm community events separately. A temple's Sankranti or Pongal programme may follow a weekend or a hall booking rather than the calculated day, so in the US it could fall on the weekend of January 16 and 17. Ask your temple or community organizers what they are running and when, and write it down as its own line.
Ten weeks out: write down the date and the shape of the week
Open one shared calendar and enter the day for the city you will be in: Thursday, January 14 for New York or Los Angeles, or in India the Thursday or Friday your family keeps. If relatives in another country are working to a different day, add theirs too, labelled by city, so nobody re-derives it in January.
Then settle the shape of the week in one line: who is marking it, whether the day is at home, at a temple, at a kite festival, or on a trip home, and whether Lohri, Bhogi, or the Pongal weekend is part of it. Everything else, from how much to cook to who drives, follows from that line. If the gathering is a puja with guests, Ghar's Satyanarayan puja planning guide covers sizing the guest list to the room, prasad, and the space.
The weeks before it are full: Diwali on November 8, Gita Jayanti on December 19 or 20, then the year-end holidays, so Makar Sankranti is easy to leave until January, when little can still be changed. The days themselves are a Thursday and a Friday, ordinary working and school days for many households, so check now what they already hold.
Six to eight weeks before: travel, kite festivals, and the river
If anyone is travelling home for Sankranti or Pongal, decide now and book as early as you can. Families abroad who fly to India for the December holidays should decide whether the trip runs on to mid-January, since a return in the first week of January misses the festival. Book around the days your family keeps, and treat the train or flight, the room, and local transport as separate bookings, each confirmed in writing.
If a kite festival is part of the plan, check the organizer's details before you travel. Incredible India lists Jaipur's Kite Festival and Patang Atish Utsav at Jal Mahal on 14 January 2027. Plan it like an outing with fixed times: where the group will be, how you get there and back, where to meet if anyone is separated, and who is watching each child in the crowd.
If anyone plans an early visit to a river or ghat, plan it like any outing before dawn: who wakes whom, who drives, warm layers and dry clothes, a light for the walk, and who watches each child near the water. Drik Panchang notes that Makar Sankranti is the main bathing day at the Ganga Sagar Mela near Kolkata, so leave for any busy site earlier than feels necessary.
Two to three weeks before: the kitchen, the fire, and named jobs
Treat the days from Lohri or Bhogi to the end of Pongal as one unit and give each practical job a name a week or two ahead: the kitchen, any bonfire or rooftop, guests, children, older relatives, and the calls to family in other time zones. These are logistics rather than obligations, and writing names beside them is what stops one person absorbing all of them silently.
If your household makes sesame and jaggery sweets, cooks a pot of pongal, or hosts a meal, decide who makes what and on which day, and shop for it the weekend before. If anyone is keeping a fast, ask what they need from everyone else, then move the cooking and errands so they do not land on that person. This article does not advise on fasting; if anyone has a health-related question, use qualified medical guidance rather than a festival checklist. The approach in the Ekadashi family fasting guide transfers directly: confirm the practice, plan the kitchen, skip the pressure.
If a Lohri or Bhogi bonfire is part of the plan, settle where it goes, who watches it, and how it is put out, and check local rules on open fires. If kites are part of the day, agree who is on the roof with each child, and keep the string clear of roads and power lines.
Fix the call times by city. A call at 8:00 AM on Friday in New Delhi is 9:30 PM on Thursday in New York and 6:30 PM on Thursday in Los Angeles, so each end of the family can be on its own Makar Sankranti day. Write the agreed time beside every city in one message; the Hindu app guide for diaspora households helps keep locations and time zones straight.
Makar Sankranti itself: a fixed morning and a protected day
Give the morning a fixed start. In New Delhi, Drik Panchang and AstroSage both open Friday's Punya Kaal at sunrise, 7:15 AM. They close it at different times, because calendars use different rules for its length, so if the window matters to your household, follow the calendar or temple you trust. In Drik Panchang's New York and Los Angeles calendars, the window opens at the moment of the move itself on Thursday morning, so look up your own city's time.
Then protect the rest of the day. In the US, Thursday is a working and school day for most households, so leave work on time and keep dinner simple. In India, the central government lists Makar Sankranti and Pongal as restricted holidays, so check whether your own office, bank, or school closes on the day you keep.
If children are involved, give them something concrete to own, such as looking after a kite, carrying sweets to the neighbours, or calling a grandparent who cannot be there, and answer the questions they actually ask. Ghar's guide on teaching Hindu traditions to kids takes that further.
Makar Sankranti 2027 planning checklist
| Area | What to confirm | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Your date | Makar Sankranti on Thu Jan 14 in the US cities checked, or Thu Jan 14 or Fri Jan 15 in India, confirmed for your own city. | Write it in the shared calendar, labelled by city where relatives differ. |
| Which day | Whether your family, temple, or community keeps Thursday or Friday, and when any programme is held. | Keep it on its own line; ask again in the final week. |
| Lohri and Pongal | Lohri on Thu Jan 14 in India, and the Pongal days from Thu Jan 14 to Sun Jan 17, if your household keeps them. | Ask which evening your community uses for Lohri, especially in the US. |
| Work and school | Thursday and Friday commitments, and in India whether your office, bank, or school closes. | Move what you can now; say early that you will leave on time. |
| Travel | Tickets home for Sankranti or Pongal, and any kite festival or river visit, each confirmed in writing. | Hold one flexible booking rather than several fixed, expensive ones. |
| Fire, kites, and roofs | Where any bonfire goes and who puts it out, who is with each child on a roof, and kite string kept clear of roads and power lines. | Keep water or sand close and children within reach. |
| Kitchen | Who makes what on which day, from sesame and jaggery sweets to a pot of pongal or a meal for guests. | Keep one simple prepared meal for the busiest day. |
| Family calls | One call window, written in each city's time. | Choose a second short window or an ordinary phone call. |
| Privacy | Who can see photos and video of family members before sharing. | Send pictures one-to-one, not into a large group. |
The final week: confirm, then keep the morning simple
In the last week, re-check only what moves: which day your family, temple, or community is keeping, bookings, the call time, and the weather for any early start or afternoon on the roof. Then send one clear message with the household's plan: the date you are working to, who is doing what, and when the calls happen. One message beats five overlapping chats.
On the day, keep the logistics quiet and let what slips simply slip. Afterwards, write down what worked somewhere you will find it next year: the day you kept, the route, the kitchen list, and who did which job.
Use Ghar to keep Makar Sankranti in order
On iPhone, Ghar brings location-aware Hindu calendar context, festival preparation runways, reminders, and household organization into one place. Its calendar shows the tithi, sunrise, and sunset for the panchang location you set, so the date this plan turns on sits beside your own city's sunrise and sunset instead of in a forwarded screenshot. The Gita Jayanti 2026 planner covers the festival just under four weeks before.
Ghar supports planning and home practice; it does not replace your family's temple, priest, guru, elder, or tradition. Start free on iPhone or Android and keep the guidance your household trusts first.
FAQ
When is Makar Sankranti in 2027?
In the sources checked, Makar Sankranti 2027 falls on Thursday, January 14 in the US cities checked, and on Thursday, January 14 or Friday, January 15 in India, depending on the calendar. Drik Panchang lists Friday, January 15 for New Delhi and Thursday, January 14 for New York and Los Angeles, AstroSage and ProKerala also give Friday for India, and the central government's 2027 holiday list gives Thursday, January 14. Confirm your own city and the day your family keeps.
Is Makar Sankranti 2027 on January 14 or January 15?
Both dates are in use in India. The Sun moves into Makara on Thursday night, January 14, after sunset. Drik Panchang gives Thursday as the transit date and Friday, January 15 as the observation date, because when the Sankranti comes after sunset, the Punya Kaal moves to the next sunrise; the central government's holiday list and Incredible India use Thursday, January 14. Ask which day your family, temple, or community keeps.
Is Makar Sankranti 2027 on the same date in the USA as in India?
Not always. In the US the Sun's move into Makara comes on Thursday morning, January 14, so Drik Panchang's New York and Los Angeles calendars list Thursday, January 14, while its New Delhi calendar lists Friday, January 15. Ask which day your temple or community is using before you plan.
When are Lohri and Pongal in 2027?
In the sources checked for India, Lohri falls on Thursday, January 14, and Pongal runs for four days: Bhogi on Thursday, January 14, Thai Pongal on Friday, January 15, Mattu Pongal on Saturday, January 16, and Kaanum Pongal on Sunday, January 17. Drik Panchang and AstroSage agree on Lohri, and Drik Panchang and ProKerala on the four Pongal days. In the US, ask which evening your community is using for Lohri.
Keep one Makar Sankranti plan instead of five chats.
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