Harvest, mid-January
Pongal & Makar Sankranti in Germany 2027
Pongal & Makar Sankranti 2027: Thursday, 14 January 2027
The Tamil community, many of them Sri Lankan Tamil families settled for decades, celebrates Thai Pongal at the temples in Hamm, Berlin and elsewhere, with the rice boiled over in the temple courtyard.
Pongal & Makar Sankranti events in Germany0 listed
What Pongal & Makar Sankranti is
The January harvest festival under its many names — Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Sankranti in the north and west, Lohri in Punjab, Bihu in Assam — kept abroad with kite days and Tamil association gatherings.
Makar Sankranti is one of the few Indian festivals on the solar calendar, so it falls on 14 January almost every year. It marks the sun’s turn north and the harvest. Tamil families cook pongal — rice boiled over in milk and jaggery — over four days; Gujaratis fly kites; Punjabis light Lohri bonfires the night before; Assam keeps Bhogali Bihu.
If it is your first one in Germany
- Sugarcane and the sweets (til-gud, chikki) appear in the Indian grocers in the first week of January.
Questions people ask
- When is Pongal & Makar Sankranti in Germany in 2027?
- Pongal & Makar Sankranti 2027 falls on Thursday, 14 January 2027. It is not a public holiday in Germany, so the community celebrates on the weekends around it — events are listed on this page as organisers post them, usually four to six weeks ahead.
- Where can I celebrate Pongal & Makar Sankranti in Germany?
- The Tamil community, many of them Sri Lankan Tamil families settled for decades, celebrates Thai Pongal at the temples in Hamm, Berlin and elsewhere, with the rice boiled over in the temple courtyard.
- Can non-Indians go to Pongal & Makar Sankranti events in Germany?
- Yes. Almost every community event is open to everyone and runs in English; temple and gurdwara celebrations welcome visitors too — dress modestly, and cover your head in a gurdwara.
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Organising something?
Post it from the app under Events, wherever you are. It is free, a moderator checks it, and it appears here and to every member nearby. Running several a year? Email hello@namaste.community for a listing invite.