Makar Sankranti
JanuarySun's northward transit – sesame sweets, kite flying, Ganga bathing.
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Exact dates, Tithi, Muhurta, and city-specific puja timings for 2026 & 2027 – computed from classical Vedic algorithms for 15 cities.
Every festival page shows: the exact date by Kala-Vyapti (tithi prevalence) rule, city-specific sunrise and tithi times, the auspicious puja muhurta window, observance rituals, and the mythology behind the celebration.
Every festival page now includes
Sun's northward transit – sesame sweets, kite flying, Ganga bathing.
Goddess Saraswati puja – start of spring, day to begin new learning.
Bonfire ritual on Purnima eve symbolising victory of devotion over evil.
Festival of colours – spring celebration of joy, love, and renewal.
Birthday of Lord Rama – Madhyahna Muhurta puja on Chaitra Shukla Navami.
Birth anniversary of Hanuman – sunrise abhishek, Sundarkand path.
All-day auspicious muhurta – ideal for gold purchase, weddings, new ventures.
Full Moon honouring the Guru – Vyasa Puja, gratitude, spiritual renewal.
Women's fast for Shiva–Parvati union – Pradosh Kaal puja, no food or water.
Ten-day festival of Ganesha – Madhyahna Muhurta installation, immersion on Anant Chaturdashi.
Vijayadashami – Aparahna Muhurta Ravana dahan, Shastra Puja, Shami worship.
Dhanvantari Jayanti – Pradosh Kaal gold and silver purchase, Yama Deepam.
Chhoti Diwali – Arunodaya Kaal oil bath before sunrise, Abhyanga Snana.
Festival of lights – Lakshmi Puja at Pradosh Kaal, fireworks, diyas.
Krishna's victory over Indra – Annakut offering, Go Puja at sunrise.
Brothers' day – sisters apply tilak at Madhyahna, blessing ritual.
Four-day Sun worship – Arghya at sunset then sunrise, riverbank rituals.
Krishna's birth at Nishita Kaal midnight – fasting, Dahi Handi, bhajan.
Bond of protection – tying rakhi during Aparahna, avoiding Bhadra.
Night of Shiva – four Prahar pujas, Nishita Kaal as the most sacred watch.
Each city page uses exact coordinates to compute sunrise, tithi end-time, and puja muhurta specific to that location.
Select a festival above, then pick your city. Separate pages exist for every festival × city × 2026/2027 combination.
Most Hindu festivals are anchored to the lunisolar Vedic calendar — not the solar months you see on a Gregorian calendar. A festival's date is the intersection of three coordinates: masa (one of 12 lunar months), paksha (Krishna or Shukla — the waning or waxing half), and tithi (the 1-15 lunar day within the paksha). Diwali, for example, falls on Amavasya tithi of the Krishna paksha of Kartik masa. Because the lunisolar year is roughly 11 days shorter than the solar year, an extra Adhika Masa (13th intercalary month) is inserted every 2-3 years to keep the seasons aligned.
Our festival engine computes each tithi relative to sunrise at your location — not the fixed India-centric tables you see elsewhere. This matters because a tithi can fall on a different calendar day in North America than in India. Each rule — Janmashtami requires Ashtami to be present at Nishita (midnight), Ganesh Chaturthi requires Chaturthi at Madhyahna (noon), etc. — is only applied correctly when computed from local coordinates. Festival Rules curriculum covers the underlying logic in depth.
Two major traditions — Smarta and Vaishnava — share the same astronomy but apply different tithi-selection rules. The Vaishnava system rejects a "Viddha" (contaminated) tithi if the previous tithi is present at sunrise; Smarta ignores it. The two diverge on Ekadashi about 4-6 times per year. Our default is Smarta (Kala-Vyapti based) — matching mainstream published panchang. For the full treatment see Smarta vs Vaishnava module. ISKCON and Gaudiya Vaishnava practitioners can use our ISKCON Vaishnava calendar.
A muhurta (auspicious window) is distinct from a festival. Muhurtas are best-time windows for an activity — wedding, griha pravesh, mundan, travel. Our Muhurta Finder and Muhurta AI find auspicious windows for 20+ activities using the 5-pillar rules from nakshatra, tithi, lagna and planetary placement. To see the day-by-day tithi and nakshatra, use the daily Panchang.
Regional calendars agree on most festivals but include local festivals and different new-year traditions for Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam communities. See the dedicated Calendars hub to compare all these variants side by side.