Saṅkrānti marks the Sun's passage from one sidereal rāśi into the next, and each of these twelve crossings opens a solar month. The moment itself is held to be holy, so the hours around it are set apart as puṇyakāla for a bath, gifts and tarpaṇa to the ancestors. The Matsya Purāṇa gives a simple Ravi-saṅkrānti worship for any such ingress, while the great solar festivals of the regions have their own days and customs. How the day is fixed: The day is the local civil date on which the Sun enters the new rāśi in the nirayana, or sidereal, reckoning. If the Sun crosses during daylight, the puṇyakāla is the stretch just before the crossing. If it crosses at night, the puṇyakāla is the stretch just after it. Length of the puṇyakāla: The Dharma Sindhu sets the length in ghaṭikās of 24 minutes each. It is 10 ghaṭikās for Meṣa and Tulā, 30 for Karka, 40 for Makara and 16 for the other eight rāśis. When the window would begin before sunrise, the bath and gifts are kept from sunrise onward. Keep in mind: Tamil Māsa Piṟappu and the Malayalam month start follow their own regional rules for which civil day opens the month. In the Tamil panchangam, when the Sun crosses after sunrise, the new month is counted from the next morning. So the first day of a regional month can fall a day after the ingress itself. 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. Bath, gifts and tarpaṇa: Within the puṇyakāla people take a holy bath, give gifts as they can and offer tarpaṇa to the ancestors. The Matsya Purāṇa describes drawing an eight-petalled lotus with sandal paste on the ground at the ingress and invoking the Sun in it. Worth remembering: The monthly ingress is distinct from the named solar festivals. Makara Saṅkrānti opens Uttarāyaṇa and carries Poṅgal and the harvest feasts. Meṣa Saṅkrānti brings the solar new years such as Puthāṇṭu, Viṣu, Poylā Boiśākh and Pana Saṅkrānti, and the Malayalam new year falls with the Sun's entry into Siṃha. Each of these is kept as a separate observance with its own customs. How much is made of the monthly Saṅkrānti varies from house to house. Some families offer tarpaṇa at every ingress, while others bathe and give a small gift. The surest guide is the practice the elders of one's own house have kept.
