Makaravilakku · Makara Sankranti Festival Makaram 1 at Sabarimala.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Makaravilakku · Makara Sankranti
- മലയാളം
- മകരവിളക്ക് · മകരസംക്രാന്തി
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
Makaram 1 at Sabarimala. The thiruvabharanam, the golden ornaments of Ayyappan, is carried on foot from Pandalam and reaches the sannidhanam at dusk; as the deity is decked, the Makara Jyothi is seen on the eastern horizon and a light appears three times on the Ponnambalamedu hill opposite, which is the Makaravilakku the pilgrims wait for.
- Deity
- Ayyappan
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The first day of Makaram, the day the Sun enters Makara; the deepam is lit and the light looked for just after sunset.
The fast
Pilgrims complete the forty-one day vratam that began in Vrischikam and break it after the darshan.
Where the regions differ
The same solar ingress is Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makara Sankranti in the Telugu and Kannada country and Makar Sankranti in the north.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
A temple visit, or the first darshan at a new temple. No weekday is ruled out: Tuesday belongs to Murugan and the Amman, Saturday to Perumal and Sani, so the day usually follows the deity rather than the almanac. Ashtami and Chaturdasi are the two tithis held back for darshan, with the standing exceptions of Sivaratri on Krishna Chaturdasi and Kala Bhairava Ashtami, which are kept on those very days. Rahu kaal, Yamaganda and Gulika kaal are not scored here; the panchangam page prints them for the day you pick, and most families simply wait them out.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.