Before sunrise, the ghats are already full. Thousands of people walk down the steps into the freezing Ganga, gasping, laughing, praying, ducking under three times. Steam rises off their shoulders in the cold air. Priests chant. Marigolds float past. And by mid-morning, look up: the sky above the old city is filled with hundreds of paper kites.
This is Makar Sankranti in Banaras, one of the best days of the whole winter.
Makar Sankranti marks the sun's movement into Capricorn and the start of its northward journey, Uttarayan. It usually falls in mid-January and is celebrated across India under different names and customs. It's one of the few Hindu festivals tied to the solar calendar, which is why its date stays fairly fixed. Check the exact date for the year you're travelling.
Bathing in the Ganga on Sankranti is considered especially meritorious, and Banaras ghats see huge crowds at dawn. Even if you don't take a dip yourself, being on the ghats or on a boat at sunrise that morning is extraordinary. If you do want to bathe, do it from a safe, crowded ghat, never alone, and only in shallow water.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, Makar Sankranti is so closely tied to food that it's often simply called Khichdi. Families cook khichdi with rice, lentils and fresh winter vegetables, share it, and donate it along with grains. Til and gur sweets, laddoos and chikki of sesame and jaggery, are exchanged everywhere, along with chura and dahi.
By the afternoon, the rooftops of the old city belong to kite flyers. Kids and grown men fight fierce kite battles, cutting each other's strings and shouting in triumph. If you get a rooftop view, you'll see a sky crowded with colour, and you'll hear cheers rolling across the city every few minutes.
Winter Banaras is the highlight of our travel calendar, and Sankranti is a big part of why. Explore GoRaahi's winter Banaras departures.
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