Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan or Maghi or simply Sankranti, also known in Bangladesh and West Bengal as Poush Sankranti, and in Nepal as Maghe Sankranti, sam(n)kranti here means ‘transfer’, this day is considered as the transition day of Sun into the Capricorn. Now the sun moves northwards in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya (sun), many native festivals are organised all over India. It is observed each year the day Sun enters the Capricorn zodiac which corresponds with the month of January as per the Gregorian calendar. It marks the first day of the sun's transit into Makara rashi (Capricorn).Due to the addition of one day in leap years, the date of Makar Sankranti may vary a bit. On leap years it falls on 15 January, otherwise on 14 January. There are 365.24 days in one year but we can use only 365 whole days. Then we add one day on the leap year. By the time of leap year, year Calendar is lagging almost one day behind the sun, causing Makar Sankranti to fall on 15 January.
