Thai Pongal in Sri Lanka: holiday date and how it is kept

Quick answer: In 2027, Thai Pongal in Sri Lanka falls on Friday 15 January, which is gazetted as Tamil Thai Pongal Day, a public, bank and mercantile holiday. The Sun enters Makara at 9:14 PM on Thursday 14 January in Colombo, after sunset, so the festival is kept on Friday. Tamil families across the island cook pongal in a new pot in the morning sun.

Thai Pongal 2027 in Sri Lanka: key facts

Is Thai Pongal a holiday in Sri Lanka in 2027?

Yes. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka's holiday calendar for 2027 lists Tamil Thai Pongal Day on Friday 15 January as a bank, public and mercantile holiday. The 2027 holidays were published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2493/05 under the Holidays Act No. 29 of 1971, as the Daily Mirror reported in July 2026.

Because the holiday falls on a Friday, many families have three days together, from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 January 2027. If you are travelling home for the long weekend, book early.

Why is Thai Pongal on Friday 15 January in Sri Lanka?

Thai Pongal falls on Thai 1, the first day of the Tamil solar month of Thai, when the Sun enters sidereal Makara (Capricorn). Panchangs give the festival to the day of that moment if it comes before local sunset, and to the next day if it comes after sunset.

In 2027 Drik Panchang puts the moment at 15:44 UTC on Thursday 14 January. That is 9:14 PM in Colombo, after sunset, so the festival is on Friday 15 January, the same day as in India. Sri Lankan Tamil households often follow a local almanac for the best time to set the pot on the fire. Confirm with your local panchang or temple priest.

How is Thai Pongal kept in Sri Lanka?

Thai Pongal is the harvest thanksgiving of Sri Lanka's Hindu Tamils, offered to the Sun, to nature and to the cattle that help on the farm. Traditionally the festival has four days, but historian Professor S. Pathmanathan, Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, told the Sunday Times in 2018 that in Sri Lanka it is largely kept over two: Thai Pongal itself and Mattu Pongal.

Before the day

Houses are cleaned and decorated with banana and mango leaves. On Bhogi, the day before, many families clear out old things. Some light a small fire; if you do, burn only dry leaves or wood, keep it small and away from thatch and fences, and never burn plastic, tyres or rubber. Many families now simply clean, donate and recycle.

The pongal pot

On the morning of Thai Pongal, Professor Pathmanathan describes this pattern:

1. Bathe early and visit the kovil (temple) for the Sun puja, or pray at home.
2. Women draw a kolam (a design in dry rice flour) at the entrance.
3. Set a new earthen pot in the courtyard or porch, in the sunlight.
4. Cook the new rice in fresh milk until it boils over, and call "Pongalo Pongal!" The cooked dish is the pongal or paalsooru (milk rice).
5. Sweeten it with jaggery and add cardamom and cashews.
6. Offer it to the Sun with seasonal fruit such as banana, orange and pomegranate, then serve it on a banana leaf with sweets, and share it with relatives and neighbours.

Families then share a festive meal and exchange gifts.

Mattu Pongal

On Mattu Pongal, the day after Thai Pongal, cattle are bathed, marked with vermilion, garlanded and hung with bells, fed pongal and given a day's rest from work. See our Mattu Pongal guide for the meaning of the day.

How is Thai Pongal kept in Jaffna and the North?

In the North the festival is a farmers' festival above all. The Northern Province's own website reports two provincial celebrations in January 2026. On Thai Pongal day the provincial agriculture ministry held one at a temple in Velanai, where rice was poured into the pongal pot to open the festival. A few days later the provincial cultural affairs unit held its Pongal festival at the historic Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar, beginning with a traditional puthireduththal (first-harvest) ceremony in the paddy fields, followed by pongal in front of the temple, prayers, and dances by schoolchildren, including kolattam (stick dance) and other folk forms. The Governor called Thai Pongal "the festival of farmers".

Professor Pathmanathan notes that the Jaffna and Batticaloa traditions differ in their details, and that many old customs lapsed during the years of displacement and are being revived as families return to their home villages.

How is Thai Pongal kept in the East?

In Batticaloa and the wider Eastern Province, where much of the Tamil population farms paddy, celebrations also centre on farmers. The Daily FT reported a regional Pongal festival in Thikkodai village, Batticaloa, in 2020, organised by an alumni association of Eastern University with a local Hindu association, with a traditional walk honouring farmers, pujas and a stage programme. The Sunday Times reported in 2018 that the Batticaloa District Secretariat and its divisional secretariats held their own Thai Pongal celebration, with students from the Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies.

How is Thai Pongal kept in the hill country?

The Malaiyaha Tamils (hill-country Tamils), the Indian-origin Tamil community of the tea plantations, keep Thai Pongal on the estates and in towns such as Hatton and Nuwara Eliya. In January 2024 the national Thai Pongal festival, organised by government ministries with the Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs, was held in Hatton for the first time; the minister responsible said the venue recognised the community's 200-year history in Sri Lanka. In 2024 the Daily FT also reported more than 200 women from estate communities drawing kolam in Pongal competitions held in Nuwara Eliya and Hatton.

How is Thai Pongal kept in Colombo?

In Colombo most families cook pongal at home and visit a kovil. The Sunday Times noted the sugarcane and festival sweets sold in Wellawatte in the days before Pongal. In a flat, cook on the stove in a heavy metal pot or pressure cooker rather than a clay pot on a glass-ceramic or induction hob, and stay by the stove while the milk heats.

Ingredients and allergens

New rice, jaggery, milk, cardamom, cashews, sugarcane, banana leaves and new clay pots are sold in Tamil markets across the island in the days before Thai Pongal. Cashews, milk and ghee are common allergens; label shared plates at school or office celebrations. For recipes, see sakkarai pongal and our guide to which pongal is cooked when.

How can children take part?

• Help draw the kolam with rice flour at the entrance.
• Stir the pot with an adult and call "Pongalo Pongal!" when the milk overflows.
• Help decorate the cattle on Mattu Pongal, keeping a safe distance and following an adult who knows the animals.
• Carry pongal to neighbours and relatives.

Frequently asked questions

When is Thai Pongal 2027 in Sri Lanka?

Thai Pongal is on Friday 15 January 2027 in Sri Lanka. The Sun enters Makara at 9:14 PM on Thursday 14 January Colombo time, after sunset, so the festival is kept on Friday. Confirm with your local panchang or temple priest.

Is Thai Pongal a public holiday in Sri Lanka?

Yes. Tamil Thai Pongal Day, Friday 15 January 2027, is a public, bank and mercantile holiday in the 2027 calendar published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

How many days is Thai Pongal in Sri Lanka?

Traditionally four, from Bhogi to Kaanum Pongal. In Sri Lanka it is largely kept over two days, Thai Pongal and Mattu Pongal, according to historian Professor S. Pathmanathan.

What is cooked for Thai Pongal in Sri Lanka?

Pongal, or paalsooru: new rice cooked in fresh milk in a new earthen pot until it boils over, sweetened with jaggery and flavoured with cardamom and cashews. It is offered to the Sun and served on a banana leaf.

Is Thai Pongal the same as Makar Sankranti?

Yes, in the sense that both mark the Sun's entry into Makara. Tamils keep that day as Thai Pongal, the start of the month of Thai; other communities in India keep it under other names. Our Makar Sankranti 2027 guide explains the shared astronomy.

Is Thai Pongal the Tamil New Year?

No. The Tamil New Year, Puthandu, falls in Chithirai in April. Some hold that the Tamil year begins on Thai 1, the day of Thai Pongal, but that view is debated.

Sources

• Drik Panchang, Makar Sankranti moment 15:44 UTC on Thursday 14 January 2027, via the HinduTone date data in Makar Sankranti 2027
• Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Bank holidays 2027: https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/about/about-the-bank/bank-holidays-2027 (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), "2027 public and bank holidays gazetted" (6 July 2026): https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/2027-public-and-bank-holidays-gazetted/108-344844 (accessed 12 November 2026)
• The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), Randima Attygalle, "Keeping a unique thanksgiving alive" (14 January 2018), interview with Prof. S. Pathmanathan: https://www.sundaytimes.lk/180114/plus/keeping-a-unique-thanksgiving-alive-276816.html (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Northern Provincial Council, Velanai Pongal festival (15 January 2026): https://np.gov.lk/when-january-thai-begins-a-new-path-opens-and-the-people-place-their-faith-in-the-president-the-governor-remarked-at-the-velanai-pongal-festival/ (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Northern Provincial Council, Northern Province Pongal Festival 2026, Thiruketheeswaram, Mannar: https://np.gov.lk/pongal-should-be-made-the-provinces-main-festival-through-joint-efforts-of-agriculture-tourism-and-cultural-departments-says-governor-vethanayahan-in-mannar/ (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Daily FT, "Eastern Traditional Pongal Festival 2020": https://www.ft.lk/News/Eastern-Traditional-Pongal-Festival-2020/56-694245 (accessed 12 November 2026)
• The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), "Thai Pongal in Batticaloa" (21 January 2018): https://www.sundaytimes.lk/180121/education/education-news/thai-pongal-in-batticaloa-277668.html (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Newswire, "Jeevan issues clarification on 'National Thai Pongal' Festival" (24 January 2024): https://newswire.lk/2024/01/24/jeevan-issues-clarification-on-national-thai-pongal-festival (accessed 12 November 2026)
• Daily FT, "Serendib Flour Mills celebrates Thai Pongal harvest with Adhi Shakthi Kolam contest" (3 February 2024): https://www.ft.lk/csrevents/Serendib-Flour-Mills-celebrates-Thai-Pongal-harvest-with-Adhi-Shakthi-Kolam-contest/38-758098 (accessed 12 November 2026)

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.

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