Surya Rashi Peyarchi — 2026

Surya Rashi Peyarchi 2026 — what this timeline shows

The Sankranti Calendar for 2026 — the annual calendar of every Sun Rashi (Sun sign) change — goes by many names across Indian regional traditions:

• Surya Rashi Peyarchi — the primary name we use across the site; combines the Sanskrit "Surya Rashi" (Sun sign) with "Peyarchi" (transit) into one clear label.
• Sankranti Calendar / Surya Rashi Calendar / Sun Rashi Calendar — the plain Sanskrit / English names used in modern Vedic almanacs.
• Ravi Peyarchi (ரவி பெயர்ச்சி) — the Tamil / South Indian term for Sun transit or sign change.
• Surya Gochar (सूर्य गोचर) — the North Indian Hindi term for Sun transit.
• Surya Rashi Parivartan (सूर्य राशि परिवर्तन) — another Hindi phrasing meaning "Sun changing sign," widely used in panchang and almanac publications.
• Sun Yearly Transit / Annual Sun Sign Change Calendar — the English descriptions most commonly used in Western Vedic-astrology software.

All of the above refer to the same set of events: every moment the sidereal Sun crosses from one Rashi into the next. Because the Sun does not retrograde, there are exactly 12 Sankranti events per year — one for each zodiac sign. Cards for Aries and Libra also carry nested peak-dignity windows.

Key Sun transit events in 2026

• Makara Sankranti (Sun enters Capricorn, ~Jan 14) — the winter solstice-linked festival marking Uttarayana, the Sun's northward journey.
• Mesha Sankranti (Sun enters Aries, ~Apr 14) — solar new year (Tamil Puthandu, Vishu, Poila Boishakh); Sun enters exaltation sign.
• Karka Sankranti (Sun enters Cancer, ~Jul 16) — marks Dakshinayana, the Sun's southward journey.
• Tula Sankranti (Sun enters Libra, ~Oct 17) — Sun enters debilitation sign; classical Vedic tradition considers this a period of lower solar strength.

Dignity filter chips

At the top of the timeline you'll find four dignity filter chips — Exalted, Own Sign, Debilitated, Neutral, and All — each showing a live count of matching Sankranti cards in 2026. Tap any chip to instantly narrow the timeline to just those visits:

• Exalted — the Sun-in-Aries visit (Mesha Sankranti). Exactly 1 card per year. The Sun is at peak sidereal dignity in Aries, and this visit contains the Peak Exalted (10° Aries) sub-event window.
• Own Sign — the Sun-in-Leo visit (Simha Sankranti). Exactly 1 card per year. Leo is the Sun's own rashi, and its first 20° (~17 August to ~6 September) are moolatrikona — the strongest placement after exaltation in Aries.
• Debilitated — the Sun-in-Libra visit (Tula Sankranti). Exactly 1 card per year. Contains the Peak Debilitated (10° Libra) sub-event.
• Neutral — the remaining nine Sankrantis (Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces). 10 cards per year, because Sagittarius appears twice — see below.
• Why 13 cards for 12 Sankrantis — the year holds exactly 12 Sankranti moments, but 13 cards. The Sun enters Sagittarius in mid-December and does not leave until around 14 January, so that visit straddles 1 January and is shown at both ends of the calendar — once as the visit already running when the year opens, and once as the visit beginning again in December. Sagittarius is therefore the one sign listed twice, in every year. (This is a calendar-boundary effect and is unrelated to Adhik Maas, which is a lunar-month intercalation defined by a lunar month containing no Sankranti at all.)
• All — clears the filter and shows every card again.

Common questions this page answers

Because the Sun follows a clean 12-Sankranti annual cycle, the dignity filter answers a lot of one-tap questions directly:

• When is the Sun exalted in 2026? — click Exalted. The one Mesha Sankranti card shows the exact moment the Sun enters Aries (~April 14) plus the nested Peak Exalted window (the exact 10°00'00" Aries crossing, about 25 seconds).
• When is the Sun debilitated in 2026? — click Debilitated. The one Tula Sankranti card shows the exact moment the Sun enters Libra (~October 17) plus the nested Peak Debilitated window.
• When is the Sun in its own sign (Leo) in 2026? — click Own Sign. The one Simha Sankranti card shows Sun-in-Leo timing (~August 17).
• When is Makara Sankranti in 2026? — click Neutral (or scroll to January). Sun enters Capricorn ~January 14, marking Uttarayana — the northern journey.
• When is Karka Sankranti in 2026? — the Sun-in-Cancer card. Marks Dakshinayana, the southern journey (~July 16).
• When is Mesha Sankranti / solar new year in 2026? — the Exalted card. Solar new year across South Indian traditions (Tamil Puthandu, Vishu, Bengali Poila Boishakh).
• When is the Sun in Taurus / Gemini / Cancer / Virgo / Scorpio / Sagittarius / Capricorn / Aquarius / Pisces in 2026? — click Neutral. All nine neutral-dignity Sankrantis are shown with entry and exit dates.
• How many days does the Sun stay in each sign in 2026? — every card shows the duration (roughly 30–31 days per sign; varies slightly by Earth's orbital eccentricity).

Peak dignity windows

The Sun is exalted in Aries (peak at 10° Aries) and debilitated in Libra (peak at 10° Libra). The peak is the exact degree — 10°00'00" and nothing either side of it — so because the Sun moves ~1° per day, each peak window is only about 25 seconds wide. Cards for Aries and Libra visits in this calendar carry a nested sub-event with the exact peak-window start and end times. The Leo card carries a different breakdown: Leo changes dignity partway through, so it lists a Dignity bands section splitting the visit into moolatrikona 0°00'00"–20°00'00" (roughly 17 August to 6 September) and own sign 20°00'01"–29°59'59", each with its own entry and exit times — so the Own Sign badge no longer implies the whole month-long visit sits at the same strength. Hover any band badge for its exact bounds. Cards for the remaining signs render a "clean visit" note — no peak-dignity or band events happen inside them.

How the 2026 events are calculated

Every Sankranti moment and peak-dignity boundary in the 2026 calendar is computed via Swiss Ephemeris with Lahiri Ayanamsha, resolved to the exact ephemeris instant via binary search. Sign entries are found by tracking when the Sun's sidereal longitude crosses each 30° boundary; peak-dignity windows by tracking when the longitude crosses the exact 10°00'00" point in Aries or Libra. No analytical formulas or interpolation tables are used.

Related tools

Use the year arrows in the timeline header to page to 2025 or 2027 — or click the year itself to type any past or future year. This yearly timeline lists all 12 Sankrantis; for finer-grained views or other Sun queries, use one of these companion tools:

• Sankranti Dates — the dedicated Sankranti calendar under Fast Dates, covering each Sankranti as a festival and observance day with its punya kaal timings. This page treats the same crossings as transit events instead.
• Live Tracker — the Sun's current sidereal longitude, sign (Rashi), Nakshatra, Pada, sign lord, and progress through the current sign. Auto-updates through the day.
• Date Lookup — the Sun's complete readout at local sunrise for any past or future date. Useful for verifying a specific Sankranti timing or checking historical dates.
• Find Sun Transit Dates — reverse lookup. Pick a nakshatra or rashi and get every upcoming Sun window in the next 730 days — two full years of Sankrantis in one search.
• Surya Nakshatra Peyarchi (Nakshatra Year Timeline) — the same year but at the finer Nakshatra layer — 27 cards, one per Sun Nakshatra visit, with pada-level entry / exit times. Sun-owned Nakshatras (Krittika, Uttara-Phalguni, Uttara-Ashadha) highlighted.