Thai Pongal
Tamil Nadu's harvest festival — sweet pongal cooked in a new clay pot facing the rising sun.
Gregorian date
15 January 2028
Saturday
Tithi
Sun enters Capricorn (solar)
Pausha (December – January)
Duration
single-day
Regional emphasis
Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka
Also known as
Pongal · Surya Pongal
Significance
The first day of the Tamil month Thai. Marks the sun's northward journey (Uttarayana) — the start of harvest. Households cook Sakkarai Pongal (sweet rice with jaggery, milk, ghee, cardamom) in a new clay pot outdoors; when it boils over, the family shouts "Pongalo Pongal!"
What happens on the day
- •Cook Sakkarai Pongal in a new clay pot, facing east at sunrise
- •Decorate with kolam (rice-flour patterns)
- •Sugarcane stalks, turmeric leaves at the cooking pot
- •Boil-over moment — shout Pongalo Pongal!
- •Offer first portion to the sun
Auspicious for
- ✓Major sankalpa
- ✓Solar deity worship
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.
Makar Sankranti
15 January 2028 · Sun enters Capricorn (solar — not lunar tithi)
The sun begins its northward journey — the most auspicious solar event.
Mattu Pongal
16 January 2028 · Solar (day after Thai Pongal)
Cattle worship — the third day of Pongal honours the bulls and cows that work the fields.