HelloStampedFestivals
Makar Sankranti invitations
Tilgul ghya, god god bola
5 designs
Free with an account: your invitation as a link, a QR code and a short video for WhatsApp.
Modern
A clean sans, a two-column split, one accent rule, no ornament.
About this design
A clean sans, a two-column split, one accent rule and no ornament. Built for the invitations where a cultural motif would be wrong rather than merely unnecessary — a networking mixer, a product launch, a team lunch — and for the American holidays this community celebrates without wanting them decorated as Indian.
Bandhani
Tie-dye dots and mirror discs from Gujarat and Rajasthan, made to carry far.
About this design
Tie-dye dot fields and mirror-work discs, Gujarati and Rajasthani, at the loudest end of this file. It is the one family designed to be seen from across a school gymnasium, which is where the research found garba actually happens in the United States. Motion is festive here and on only two other families.
Kolam
Dot-grid geometry from Tamil and Telugu doorsteps, drawn at dawn.
About this design
White dot-grid geometry on a warm ground, the way a Tamil or Telugu doorstep is drawn at dawn. Named kolam and not rangoli on purpose: alpana in Bengal and aripan in Bihar are cousins with their own names, and this family draws only the South Indian one.
Marigold
A garland and toran at the head of the page, drawn as geometry.
About this design
A garland across the top and a toran hung at the head of the page, drawn as botanical geometry rather than as photographs of flowers. Warm by construction: the marigold is what a doorway wears on the morning of almost every occasion in this taxonomy, which is also why the family suits so many groups and leads none of them.
Playful
Balloons, paper and a diagonal; the age as a sticker.
About this design
Confetti, balloons and a very heavy display face set tight. The children's family, and the only one whose type is allowed to be this loud. It carries five palettes rather than three because a child's birthday is the one occasion where the host has a colour in mind before they have anything else.
Marked by Hindu, Jain and Sikh families. Usually at home, a park and a hired hall, for family, friends, the wider community and the children. 14–15 January. Free invitation designs with RSVP and calendar, and no account for your guests.
Each one is a different visual tradition rather than a recolour of the same card. Tap a colour underneath to change the palette; every design carries your own wording, date and place.
About Makar Sankranti
- When it falls
- 14–15 January
- Who is usually asked
- family, friends, the wider community and the children
- Where it usually happens
- at home, a park, a hired hall and a clubhouse
- How the invitation speaks
- Warm — first names, and it sounds like the person sending it
- Customary opening line
- “Tilgul ghya, god god bola” or, in English, “Join us for Sankranti”
- Colours it is associated with
- Kite brights; black is worn in Maharashtra
- What guests bring
- A kite, if you fancy your chances
- Marked by
- Hindu, Jain and Sikh
Wording that works
Uttarayan on the terrace
Kites from 11, undhiyu and jalebi at 2. Sunscreen is a serious suggestion.
Questions people ask
- Do my guests need an account?
- No, and they never will. A guest opens the link, types their name and taps Going, Maybe or Can't go. No password, no phone number, no app. If a page ever asks your guests for a password, it is not us.
- Can I text my guests?
- Only the ones who asked to be texted. A guest gives a number on their own — on our page, never yours — and confirms it with a six-digit code before we will send anything. You never see the number. Texts are limited to three per event so an invitation cannot become a mailing list, and cancelling or moving an event is never counted against that.
- Does it work in WhatsApp?
- That is what it is built for. Pasting the link shows a picture of the invitation with the date and who is hosting, before anybody taps — and the page opens in whatever browser your guest has, on any phone, including the ones that are not iPhones.
- Can guests add it to Google Calendar?
- Google, Apple, Outlook and anything else that reads a calendar file. There is a button on the invitation itself, and it works before anybody answers. If you change the time or the place afterwards, their existing entry updates — it does not add a second one — and cancelling removes it.