Maghe Sankranti and Maghi Parva in Australia: 1 Magh 2083 (15 January 2027)

Maghe Sankranti — the first of Magh — falls on 1 Magh 2083, which is Friday, 15 January 2027 in Australia. It marks the sun's entry into Makar (Capricorn) and the start of Uttarayana, the northward journey: from this day the worst of winter is considered over and the days begin lengthening toward spring.

A festival celebrated mostly through food

Maghe Sankranti has no elaborate puja for most families — it is celebrated on the plate. The traditional spread is built around warming, energy-dense winter foods:

• Til ko laddu — sesame seed balls bound in molasses, the signature sweet of the day.
• Chaku — hardened molasses, eaten on its own or melted into laddu.
• Ghee and yam (tarul) — boiled yam eaten with ghee, plus sakhar-khand (sweet potato) in many households.
• Khichdi — rice and lentil porridge, especially in Magar and Tharu households.

In Nepal the day is also a bathing festival — ritual dips in rivers like Devghat. In Australia, most families keep the food traditions and the family gathering instead.

Maghi: the Tharu community's new year

For the Tharu community — one of Nepal's largest indigenous groups — the same day is Maghi Parva, their new year. Tharu organisations in Australia mark it with cultural programs featuring their distinctive stick dances and community feasts; it is one of the largest community-organised events of the Nepali-Australian summer.

Celebrating in Australia

• Ingredients: sesame, chaku (jaggery blocks), ghee and tarul are stocked by most Nepali grocery stores — buy early, as chaku sells out in January.
• Events: Tharu Maghi programs and community gatherings appear on the events calendar through mid-January.
• The date: unlike tithi-d festivals, Sankranti follows the solar transition, so 1 Magh lands close to mid-January every year — see it on the Magh 2083 calendar.
• Australian twist: it is mid-summer here, not the end of winter — many families joke about celebrating a winter-warming festival in January heat, but the foods are made all the same.