Pana Sankranti 2027

About Pana Sankranti

Pana Sankranti, also called Maha Vishuba Sankranti, is the Odia New Year, the day the sun enters Mesha (Aries) and the first day of Baisakha in Odisha's solar calendar. In 2027 it falls on Wednesday, 14 April 2027. Families make pana, a cool sweet drink of bel, curd and chhena, hang a dripping water pot over the tulsi, and visit Hanuman, Shiva and Devi temples.

Odisha's year turns with the sun, not the moon. Pana Sankranti is the day the sun crosses into Mesha, the first solar month, which Odisha calls Baisakha. It falls on 13 or 14 April, the same moment that gives Tamil Nadu its Puthandu, Punjab its Vaisakhi and Assam its Bohag Bihu. The day is named after a drink, because it arrives at the start of the Odia summer.

Why it is called Vishuba, and how the day is fixed

"Vishuba" refers to the sun standing over the celestial equator, the line the old astronomers tied to the spring equinox, which is why the day is also called Maha Vishuba Sankranti. The Bhavishya Purana calls the day Jala Sankranti, the water Sankranti, which fits what Odia homes do on it.

Odisha follows a simple rule. If the sun enters Mesha before midnight, that same civil day is the new year, even if the transit comes after sunset. Kerala and Bengal use different cut-offs, so in some years Vishu and Pohela Boishakh fall a day after Pana Sankranti.

Pana Sankranti is not Odisha Day. Odisha Day, Utkal Divas, falls on 1 April and marks the formation of Odisha as a separate province in 1936. Pana Sankranti is the calendar new year.

Pana, and water for the tulsi

Pana is meant to be sweetened water for the thirsty. In practice most families make something richer: bel (wood apple) pulp, grated coconut, chhena, curd and jaggery or sugar, with ginger and crushed black pepper. Bela pana is the bel version, made with ripe fruit, milk or curd, and spices. It is drunk cold, offered at temples, shared with neighbours and handed to passers-by. Chhatua, a sattu-like flour of roasted grains eaten with banana, curd or jaggery, is the other food of the day.

The tulsi plant in the courtyard chaunra gets its share. Families shade it with a chhamundia, a small roof of leaves, and hang an earthen pot over it with a hole in the base, so water or pana drips onto the plant. This is the Basundhara theki, and the pot is refilled every day through the month of Baisakha.

One story behind the giving of water comes from the Mahabharata. Bhishma, lying on his bed of arrows, asked for water, and Arjuna shot an arrow into the ground to bring it up. Odia tellings say Bhishma blessed everyone who gives water to the thirsty on this day.

Hanuman's birthday, the new panjika and the temples

In Odia tradition, Pana Sankranti is also Hanuman's birthday. Odisha keeps Hanuman Jayanti on this day, unlike much of north India, which marks it on Chaitra Purnima. Hanuman temples are crowded, and so are Shiva and Devi shrines: Taratarini near Berhampur, Biraja at Jajpur, Samaleswari at Sambalpur, Cuttack Chandi and Sarala in Jagatsinghpur.

The day also brings the new panjika, the almanac that runs from Mesha Sankranti to Mina Sankranti and sets the year's festival, fasting and wedding dates. The best known is the Radharaman Panjika, published by Radharaman Pustakalaya, founded in 1898, and for decades the panjika registered at the Jagannath temple in Puri. Many households buy the new copy, or now open the app, on this day.

Fire walking and the end of Danda Nata

For some communities the new year ends weeks of penance. Danda Nata, a ritual dance that starts in the middle of Chaitra, runs for two to four weeks depending on the place. Its performers, the danduas, bathe in ponds, walk on hot embers and perform in deep water, and the cycle closes on Pana Sankranti.

Fire walking also gives other observances their names. At the Sarala temple, priests walk on burning coals in the Jhamu Jatra. Meru Jatra marks the end of the danda season; sources place it in southern Odisha or among tribal communities in the north, and the customs vary by district. In northern Odisha the festival is also called Chadak Parba, and at the Patana Mangala temple in Chhatrapada, Bhadrak, the Patua Jatra runs for a week from the new year.

Pana

A cool sweet drink; on this day, usually bel pulp with curd, chhena, coconut and spices

Basundhara theki

The earthen pot with a hole in its base, hung over the tulsi to drip water through Baisakha

Chaunra

The raised, temple-shaped stand in the courtyard where the tulsi grows

Chhamundia

A small shade of leaves built over the tulsi chaunra

Chhatua

A sattu-like flour of roasted grains, eaten with banana, curd or jaggery

Panjika

The Odia almanac of tithis, festivals and auspicious dates, issued for each new year

Danda Nata

A ritual dance of penance, kept for weeks in Chaitra, that ends on the new year

Hardika shubhechha

Heartfelt good wishes

How to wish someone

Most Odia families greet the day as both the new year and Pana Sankranti. A message that mentions pana, the panjika or Hanuman will feel more like home than a plain "Happy New Year". For someone of another faith or region, a simple "Happy Odia New Year" is warm and correct.

How to wish someone on Pana Sankranti

A good Pana Sankranti wish is a new-year wish with Odisha in it. Mention the pana, the new panjika, or the tulsi with its dripping pot, and wish for a cool, kind year ahead. "Pana Sankrantira hardika shubhechha" is the usual Odia greeting. Many Odia families also mark Hanuman's birthday that day, so "Jai Hanuman" sits well beside it. Don't confuse it with Odisha Day on 1 April, which marks the founding of the state.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Odia.

When is Pana Sankranti in each year?

Pana Sankranti is set by the Hindu solar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year.

Frequently asked questions