Festival
Karka Sankranti 2028: Date, Rituals & Significance
Sunday
Sunday, 16 July 2028
Karka Sankranti 2028 is on Sunday, 16 July 2028. Karka Sankranti is the Sun's entry into sidereal Cancer and the start of Dakshinayana — the six months in which the Sun travels south. In the traditional scheme this is the 'night' of the devas, a time for austerity and pitru-rites rather than for beginning new undertakings.
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Karka Sankranti 2028 puja muhurat & timings
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Krishna Navami runs 15 Jul, 15:14 → 16 Jul, 16:21.
What is Karka Sankranti?
Karka Sankranti closes Uttarayana and opens the darker half of the solar year; the Kerala month Karkidakam that begins here is the 'Ramayana month', read aloud daily in Malayali homes, and a month of ayurvedic recuperation (karkidaka chikitsa). In Tamil Nadu the month Aadi brings Aadi Perukku, the water-worship of the swelling rivers, and Aadi Amavasai for the ancestors.
The story of Karka Sankranti
The division of the year at the Karka and Makara Sankrantis into Dakshinayana and Uttarayana is stated in the Mahabharata (Bhishma awaiting Uttarayana to die) and the Bhagavad Gita's contrast of the bright and dark paths; the Kerala Ramayana-month custom is a later devotional practice.
Source: Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva — Uttarayana and Dakshinayana
History
Karka Sankranti as the hinge of Dakshinayana is an ancient calendrical marker; the Adhyatma Ramayana parayana through Karkidakam, and the karkidaka-kanji medicinal diet, are Kerala practices consolidated over the last few centuries.
- Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva — Uttarayana and Dakshinayana
- Wikipedia — Karka Sankranti
How Karka Sankranti is observed
- The Sun enters Cancer in mid-July, beginning Dakshinayana, the southern course of the Sun and the gods' night.
- In Kerala it opens Karkidakam, the Ramayana month, when the Adhyatma Ramayana is read aloud at home every evening.
- Ancestors are remembered with tarpan, and Ayurvedic monsoon treatments begin in Kerala.
Regional variations
- Kerala. Karkidakam begins — the Ramayana month, daily parayana of the Adhyatma Ramayana, karkidaka kanji and ayurvedic treatment; Karkidaka Vavu Bali for the ancestors.
- Tamil Nadu. The month of Aadi — Aadi Perukku on the 18th, Aadi Amavasai tarpana, and Aadi Velli and Aadi Pooram temple days.
Festive foods
- Karkidaka kanji — A medicinal rice gruel with herbs taken through the month in Kerala.
- Pathila thoran — Ten leaves cooked together, eaten in Karkidakam for health in the rains.
Why this date
Karka Sankranti falls on Sunday, 16 July 2028. Sun's sidereal ingress into Cancer (Karka); Dakshinayana (the Sun's southward course) begins.
at sunrise
The astronomical basis
Karka Sankranti is the moment the Sun enters sidereal Cancer (Lahiri), near 16 July, shortly after the June solstice. It marks the start of Dakshinayana in the sidereal scheme; note that the astronomical southward turn (the solstice) now precedes it by about three weeks because of precession.
Fixed to a solar ingress — the Gregorian date barely moves (a day either way as the ingress instant drifts against the civil day).
Karka Sankranti dates 2022–2037
| Year | Date | Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Saturday, 16 July 2022 | Sat | — |
| 2023 | Monday, 17 July 2023 | Mon | — |
| 2024 | Tuesday, 16 July 2024 | Tue | — |
| 2025 | Wednesday, 16 July 2025 | Wed | — |
| 2026 | Thursday, 16 July 2026 | Thu | — |
| 2027 | Saturday, 17 July 2027 | Sat | — |
| 2028 | Sunday, 16 July 2028 | Sun | — |
| 2029 | Monday, 16 July 2029 | Mon | — |
| 2030 | Wednesday, 17 July 2030 | Wed | — |
| 2031 | Thursday, 17 July 2031 | Thu | — |
| 2032 | Friday, 16 July 2032 | Fri | — |
| 2033 | Saturday, 16 July 2033 | Sat | — |
| 2034 | Monday, 17 July 2034 | Mon | — |
| 2035 | Tuesday, 17 July 2035 | Tue | — |
| 2036 | Wednesday, 16 July 2036 | Wed | — |
| 2037 | Thursday, 16 July 2037 | Thu | — |
Dates for New Delhi; they can differ by a day elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
When is Karka Sankranti 2028?
Karka Sankranti 2028 is on Sunday, 16 July 2028. Karka Sankranti falls on Sunday, 16 July 2028. Sun's sidereal ingress into Cancer (Karka); Dakshinayana (the Sun's southward course) begins.
Why is Karka Sankranti considered inauspicious for new work?
It begins Dakshinayana, the Sun's southward course, held in the tradition to be the 'night of the gods' — a period for tapas, fasting and rites for the ancestors rather than for weddings, house-warmings or new ventures, which are favoured in Uttarayana.
What is a Sankranti?
The moment the Sun crosses from one sidereal rashi into the next — there are twelve in a year. Each is a parva for snana (bathing), dana (giving) and pitru-tarpana, and the punya kala is the few hours around the exact ingress.
Related
Same theme
Associated graha
Written and checked by AstroTathya Editorial Team · Last checked 2026-09-08.
Date & panchang computed by the AstroTathya calculation engine, Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa; muhurat and timings are worked out for each city. How we calculate this → · Editorial policy
Sources & further reading
- Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva — Uttarayana and Dakshinayana
- Wikipedia — Karka Sankranti