In the states of northern and western Nepal, the festival is celebrated as Makar Sankranti with special zeal and fervour.

As a festival dedicated to the Sun God, who symbolizes divinity and wisdom, it holds profound significance.

Many Nepalese associate this festival with the Winter Solstice, and believe that the sun ends its southward journey (Sanskrit: Dakshinayana) at the Tropic of Capricorn, and starts moving northward (Sanskrit: Uttarayana) towards the Tropic of Cancer, in the month of Poush on this day in mid-January.

Although there is no direct solar observance of the Winter Solstice in Nepali tradition, the Vaikuntha Ekadashi festival, based on the lunar calendar, falls closest.

[8] The date of winter solstice changes gradually due to the Axial precession of the Earth, coming earlier by approximately 1 day in every 70 years.

Thus, if Maghe Sankranti once marked the day after the actual Winter Solstice, this would mean that a mid-January date would align with around 300 CE, the peak of Hellenic mathematics and astronomy, which influenced northern India.