Festival · 2027
Pongal 2027 — Friday, 15 January 2027
Pongal is the Tamil harvest festival that opens the month of Thai, when new rice is boiled with milk and jaggery until it overflows, in thanks to the Sun, the land and the cattle.
In 2026
Wednesday, 14 January 2026until 16 January 2026
- Sunrise / sunset
- 7:15 AM / 5:45 PM
- Sankranti moment
- 3:07 PM
- Bhogi: 13 January 2026
- Mattu Pongal: 15 January 2026
- Kaanum Pongal: 16 January 2026
Rule: The first day of the Tamil solar month Thai: the day the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn if the entry is before sunset, else the next day. Bhogi is the day before; Mattu and Kaanum Pongal follow.
In 2027
Friday, 15 January 2027until 17 January 2027
- Sunrise / sunset
- 7:14 AM / 5:45 PM
- Sankranti moment
- 14 Jan, 9:10 PM
- Bhogi: 14 January 2027
- Mattu Pongal: 16 January 2027
- Kaanum Pongal: 17 January 2027
Rule: The first day of the Tamil solar month Thai: the day the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn if the entry is before sunset, else the next day. Bhogi is the day before; Mattu and Kaanum Pongal follow.
Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar
What is Pongal?
Pongal is the great harvest festival of Tamil Nadu and of Tamil families everywhere. It falls on the first day of Thai, the Tamil solar month that begins when the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn, the same event that the rest of India celebrates as Makar Sankranti. The word pongal means boiling over, and it is also the name of the dish at the centre of the day: freshly harvested rice cooked with milk and jaggery in a new pot until it froths over the rim.
The festival runs over four days. Bhogi, on the last day of the month of Margazhi, is for clearing out: homes are cleaned and painted, old and worn things are discarded, and in many places they are burned in an early morning fire. Thai Pongal, the main day, is devoted to the Sun. Mattu Pongal honours the cattle that work the fields, and Kaanum Pongal, the last day, is for visiting relatives, outings and time together.
The Tamil saying Thai pirandhal vazhi pirakkum, when Thai is born a way opens, captures the mood. The month of Margazhi, with its early morning devotion and restraint, is over; the paddy has been harvested, and the new season begins with hope. Weddings and new ventures are often planned from Thai onward. Tamil literature has celebrated the harvest season of Thai for many centuries, and the festival draws on that long agrarian memory.
At its heart Pongal is a festival of thanks rather than of any single story. The Sun is honoured as the giver of the harvest, the earth as the field that bore it, and the cattle as the partners in the work. When the pot boils over, families call out Pongalo Pongal together, and that overflowing pot is read as a sign of abundance that the household hopes will last through the year.
How it is observed
- On Bhogi, cleaning the house, discarding old things and, in many places, lighting an early morning fire.
- Drawing large kolam designs in rice flour at the entrance, often with a pongal pot drawn in the middle.
- On Thai Pongal, boiling new rice with milk and jaggery in a new pot, often outdoors facing the Sun, with turmeric plants tied around its neck.
- Calling out Pongalo Pongal when the pot boils over, and offering the sweet pongal to the Sun with sugarcane and fruit.
- On Mattu Pongal, bathing and decorating cattle, painting their horns and feeding them pongal.
- On Kaanum Pongal, visiting relatives, going on outings and, in some families, sisters praying for their brothers’ wellbeing.
How the date is fixed
Pongal follows the Sun, not a lunar tithi. Thai Pongal is the first day of the Tamil solar month Thai, which begins when the Sun enters sidereal Capricorn (Makara). Our calendar calculates that moment: if it falls before sunset, that day is Thai Pongal; if it falls after sunset, Thai Pongal is the next day. Bhogi is the day before Thai Pongal, Mattu Pongal the day after, and Kaanum Pongal the day after that. The dates and the Sankranti moment above are worked out this way for your place.
Where practice differs
Pongal is above all a Tamil festival, kept across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and by Tamil communities in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and beyond. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the same days are Sankranti, with Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanuma, and in Karnataka Sankranti is marked by sharing ellu bella, a mix of sesame, jaggery and coconut. In parts of Tamil Nadu, Mattu Pongal is also the season of the traditional bull-taming sport of jallikattu. Tamil almanacs that use a different ayanamsa or a different rule for a Sankranti near sunset can occasionally differ from ours by one day.
Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.
Questions people ask
Are Pongal and Makar Sankranti the same day?
They mark the same event, the Sun’s entry into Capricorn, and usually fall on the same day. Pongal is the Tamil name and form of the festival, and it is celebrated over four days rather than one.
What are the four days of Pongal?
Bhogi, for clearing out the old; Thai Pongal, the main day, for the Sun; Mattu Pongal, for the cattle; and Kaanum Pongal, for family visits and outings. The dates of all four are shown above.
Is there a muhurat for cooking the Pongal?
Many families cook the pongal in the morning after sunrise, and some almanacs give a preferred time. The tradition’s central point is the day itself, the first of Thai, which our calendar fixes from the moment of Sankranti shown above.
Why is the pot allowed to boil over?
The overflowing of milk and rice is the meaning of the word pongal. It is read as a sign of abundance, and the family greets it together with the call Pongalo Pongal.