Makar Sankranti marks the Sun’s entry into Makara (Capricorn) and the start of Uttarayana, its six-month northward journey. It is one of the few Hindu festivals fixed to the solar calendar rather than the Moon, which is why it stays within a day of 14 January every year while the lunar festivals roam across weeks.
How it is observed
The day is kept as a harvest thanksgiving under many names — Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat, Magh Bihu in Assam, Maghi in Punjab — with sesame and jaggery sweets, ritual bathing in rivers, and kite-flying.