Magh Bihu
Assam's harvest festival — Uruka feast, Meji bonfire, and 7 days of feasting.
Gregorian date
16 January 2028
Sunday
Tithi
Sun enters Capricorn (solar — Magh Sankranti)
Pausha (December – January)
Duration
7-day
Regional emphasis
Assam
Also known as
Bhogali Bihu
Significance
The harvest Bihu — feasting Bihu. Falls on the first day of the Assamese month Magh (after Magh Sankranti). Granaries are full from the harvest. The night before (Uruka) is a community feast at temporary thatched huts (Meji and Belaghar). Meji bonfires on Magh Bihu morning thank the fire god for the year's harvest.
What happens on the day
- •Uruka feast night before (community + family meal at Belaghar/Meji huts)
- •Burn the Meji at dawn — community fire
- •Pithas + larus (rice cakes + sweets) in plenty
- •Traditional games — buffalo fighting, tekeli bhonga (pot-breaking)
About the month of Paushaपौष
Coldest month. Sun begins its northward journey at Makar Sankranti (transitioning from Pausha to Magha). Tamil Pongal and Punjabi Lohri fall around the same time.
More festivals in Pausha
Bhogi Pandigai
14 January 2028 · Solar (eve of Thai Pongal)
The first day of the Tamil 4-day Pongal harvest festival — old things go on the bonfire.
Lohri
14 January 2028 · Solar (eve of Makar Sankranti)
Punjab's harvest bonfire festival — celebrated on the eve of Makar Sankranti.
Thai Pongal
15 January 2028 · Sun enters Capricorn (solar)
Tamil Nadu's harvest festival — sweet pongal cooked in a new clay pot facing the rising sun.
Makar Sankranti
15 January 2028 · Sun enters Capricorn (solar — not lunar tithi)
The sun begins its northward journey — the most auspicious solar event.