Significance
Makar Sankranti marks the Sun's transit into Capricorn (Makar) and the start of Uttarayan — the six-month northward journey of the Sun, considered highly auspicious. Unlike lunar festivals its date is nearly fixed, around 14–15 January each year.
It is a harvest thanksgiving celebrated across India under many names — Pongal, Uttarayan, Maghi, Bihu — marking longer, warmer days ahead.
Rituals
Devotees bathe in holy rivers at dawn, offer arghya to the Sun, and give charity of sesame (til), jaggery and grains. Sweets of til-gud are shared with the words "take this til-gud and speak sweetly." Kite-flying, bonfires and community feasts mark the day.
How the date is fixed
The date is set by a solar event — the Sun entering sidereal Capricorn — not by the Moon. The punya kaal shown above is the auspicious window around the exact moment of transit for your location.