Dhanu Saṅkrānti is the day the Sun passes into Dhanu rāśi, and in Odisha it is a winter morning of pithā and pāyasa. Before sunrise many Odia kitchens prepare these sweets and offer them to the Sun as he enters the new sign. The day is taken as the start of the cold season, and at the Śrīmandira in Puri the bhoga calendar changes from this day. It is a household day of thanks to Sūrya, kept in the kitchen and at the family shrine. How the day is fixed: This is a solar day, not a tithi. The pañcāṅga finds the moment the Sun enters Dhanu and marks the civil day, counted from local sunrise, on which that ingress falls. Keep in mind: Because it follows the Sun, the day falls on nearly the same civil date each year. When the ingress comes close to sunrise, the observed day can differ by one from place to place, so check a local pañcāṅga. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Pithā and pāyasa for the Sun: Before sunrise the household prepares pithā and pāyasa and offers them to the Sun as he enters Dhanu. The family eats warm food together once the offering is made. Bhoga at the Śrīmandira: At the Śrīmandira in Puri the temple kitchens change the bhoga calendar from Dhanu Saṅkrānti. Worth remembering: Dhanu Saṅkrānti is not Makara Saṅkrānti. Makara Saṅkrānti is the next solar ingress, a month later, and it is a separate festival with its own customs. Which pithā is made and how the offering is laid out changes from district to district and from family to family. The best guide is the way the elders of your own house have always kept it.
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