It is a festival which is devoted to the deity Surya and is observed every year in the lunar month of Magha that corresponds with the month of January as per the Gregorian calendar. This festival marks the first day of the sun’s transit into Makara rashi (Capricorn) that indicates the end of the month of winter.

Makar Sankranti is associated with several names such as Magh Bihu in Assam, Lohri in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, Magha Sankranti in Nepal, Makara Sankranti in Karnataka, Goa, Odisha, Goa, and Maharashtra, Khichidi in Uttar Pradesh, Poush Sankranti in West Bengal, Sankranthi in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Thai Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

This festival is observed with social activities such as kite flying, colorful decorations, melas (fairs), bonfires, feasts, and dances. Some of the people go to bathe with the water of a sacred river in a ceremony and thanks to the sun.