Pongal 2026: 14 or 15 January

The Makara sankranti is at 15:13 IST on 14 January 2026 — before sunset, which under the Tamil Rule gives Pongal on the 14th.

This page does not resolve the question. It states it precisely, shows what we tried, and says what would settle it — which is more than we can honestly offer today.

The rule, and what it gives

Thai Pongal falls on the Makara sankranti, the Sun's entry into Capricorn. The Tamil Rule, in Sewell's formulation, is that a sankranti occurring before sunset belongs to the same civil day.

In 2026 the sankranti computes to 15:13 IST on 14 January. That is before sunset, so the Tamil Rule gives Pongal on the 14th. Drik prints the 14th.

The Tamil Nadu state calendar prints the 15th.

What we tried

The obvious explanation would be that the state applies a different day-rule — the Malabar Rule, which uses aparahna rather than sunset. So we tested it against a year where we know the answer.

In 2022 the sankranti was at 14:29 and Pongal was on the 14th. The Malabar Rule does not give that. So the Malabar Rule cannot be the explanation either.

No single day-rule applied to drik instants reproduces both 2022 and 2026. That is the finding, and it is a negative one.

What we suspect

If no rule fits the instants, the instants may be the problem. The state calendar may be working from vakya sankranti times rather than drik ones, in which case the rule is unchanged and the input differs. Testing that needs Tamil Nadu's vakya instants for both years.

A second possibility, raised in our own review, is that the 15th is what an aparahna test gives from drik instants — not necessarily vakya at all.

What would settle it

Tamil Nadu's vakya sankranti instants for 2022 and 2026. With those, both hypotheses resolve in an afternoon. This page gives the arithmetic for the date the Tamil Rule produces and sets the state's date beside it.