Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti 2027: a greeting clip from photos

Drik Panchang lists Thai Pongal 2027 on Friday, January 15, 2027, with the Sankranti moment at 6:44 PM on January 14 for the location it displayed (read 2026-10-12). Secondary calendars read the same way: Lohri on Thursday January 14, Makar Sankranti on January 15, and Pongal through Sunday January 17 (read 2026-10-12). A 20-second greeting from five photos, a bed and cues costs $0.425 in Sume rates.

Panchang times differ by city, so print the festival name and day, not a clock time.

What are the four days of Pongal?

Drik Panchang describes Thai Pongal as the second of four days: Bogi Pandigai the day before (cleaning the home), Mattu Pongal the day after (honouring cattle) and Kaanum Pongal last (family reunions). Dates below are counted from Thai Pongal on Jan 15.

What goes in the photos and cues?

Photos at four seconds each: the clay pot, a kolam, the sweet box, the shop, a greeting card. Cues: "Happy Pongal" (0 to 8), "Sweet boxes ready Jan 14" (8 to 16), "Order today" (16 to 20). For a Tamil audience, the standard greeting in Tamil script works only if your caption font supports it, so test a render first; the docs list the Hangul faces, not Tamil ones.

How do I build it with the Sume API?

Import the photos first (POST /v1/media-imports), because Timeline only accepts files already hosted on media.sume.com. Still photos are static holds, so the fades carry the motion. Run a test render before you commit to non-Latin cue text.

Each call returns a job. Poll GET /v1/jobs/:id/status and read GET /v1/jobs/:id/result for the video_url, then pass that URL to the next step. You can call POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan first: it is unbilled and returns the duration and estimated cost before you render, which is a cheap way to catch a timing mistake. The placeholder URLs below are examples only.

# 1) bed: POST /v1/music-router/generate (prompt: festive instrumental nadaswaram and percussion, 20-second track, no vocals) -> audio artifact
# 2) assemble five imported photos (media.sume.com URLs) over a silent spine + bed
curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/timeline-1.0/render \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: pongal-timeline-001" \
  -d '{"audio":{"mode":"silence","duration_seconds":20},
       "video":[{"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo1.jpg","start":0,"duration":4},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo2.jpg","start":4,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo3.jpg","start":8,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo4.jpg","start":12,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo5.jpg","start":16,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}}],
       "soundtrack":{"url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/bed.mp3","gain_db":-6,"fade_out_seconds":2}}'
# 3) burn authored cues on the finished MP4 (no speech needed)
curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-captions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: pongal-captions-001" \
  -d '{"video_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/timeline.mp4","style":"slam","cues":[{"text":"Happy Pongal","start":0,"end":8},{"text":"Sweet boxes ready Jan 14","start":8,"end":16},{"text":"Order today","start":16,"end":20}]}'

What does the 20-second version cost on Sume?

The photos are yours, so there is no image or video generation line. Rates come from the Sume docs: Music 1.0 and Music Router charge $0.125 per generation, Timeline 1.0 charges $0.10 per ceil(output minute), and a standalone caption job is $0.20. Check GET /v1/catalog, the live catalog, before you budget.

When is this the wrong approach?

A photo slideshow with cues is the cheap, fast option. It is not the right tool for every job.

• You need Tamil or Hindi script cues: the caption docs only document Latin and Hangul faces, so confirm glyph support first.
• You want a festival date to the minute: panchang times change with the city.
• You are making a temple or community announcement with sacred text: use the community's own approved material.