Uttarayan, Makara Sankranti ( KITE FESTIVAL )

CHILDREN ENJOYING

      Uttarayan / Makara Sankranti Festival

Uttarayan, as Makara Sankranti is called in Gujarati, is a major festival in the state of Gujarat which lasts for two days.

1. 14 January is Uttarayan
2. 15 January is Vasi-Uttarayan(Stale Uttarayan)

Gujarati people keenly await this festival to fly kites, called 'patang' in Gujarati. Kites for Uttarayan are made of special light-weight paper and bamboo and are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow. The string often contains abrasives in order to cut down other people's kites.

In Gujarat, from December through to Makara Sankranti, people start enjoying Uttarayan. Undhiyu (spicy, baked mix of winter vegetables) and chikkis (made from til (sesame seeds), peanuts and jaggery) are the special festival recipes savoured on this day.

In the major cities of Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad, the skies appear filled with thousands upon thousands of kites as people enjoy two full days of Uttarayan up on their terraces.

When people cut any kites they used to yell with words like "kaypo chhe", "e lapet" and "phirko vet phirko" in Gujarati language.

International Kite Festival in Gujarat – Uttarayan

International Kite Festival
Manja (the string with which the kite is flown) Maker in a kite market, 13 January 2007
Genre	kites
Dates	14th January every year
Location(s)	Gujarat, India
Years active	1989— present

Every year, Gujarat celebrates more than 2,000 festivals. The International Kite Festival (Uttarayan) is regarded as one of the biggest festivals celebrated.Months before the festival, homes in Gujarat begin to manufacture kites for the festival.

The festival of Uttarayan marks the day when winter begins to turn into summer, according to the Hindu calendar. It is the sign for farmers that the sun is back and that harvest season is approaching which is called Makar Sankranti. This day is considered to be one of the most important harvest day in India. Many cities in Gujarat organize kite competition between their citizens where the people all compete with each other. In this region of Gujarat and many other states, Uttarayan is such a huge celebration that it has become a public holiday in India for two days. 

During the festival, local food such as Undhiyu (a mixed vegetable including yam and beans),  sesame seed brittle and Jalebi is served to the crowds. 

UNDHIYU

SESAME SEED , PEANUTS JAGGERY SWEETS

Days before the festival, the market is filled with participants buying their supplies. In 2012, the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat mentioned that the International Kite Festival in Gujarat was attempting to enter the Guinness World Records book due to the participation of 42 countries in it that year.

Participants

Pile of colored kites, prepared for the Uttarayan festival

Everyone is welcome to fly kites with everyone else in Gujarat in January. Most visitors arrive from around India, from Gujarat itself or another state. In major cities of Gujarat, kite flying starts as early as 5 am and goes until late night where approximately 8-10 million people participate in the whole festival.

However, many visitors are international who come from around the world, such as Japan, Italy, UK, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, Malaysia, Singapore, France, China, and many more to take part in the celebration.

The kite festival has been strongly influenced by its international participants, in the recent events, for instance:

• Malaysia brought wau-balang kites
• Indonesia brought llayang-llayanghave
• USA brought giant banner kites
• Japan brought Rokkaku fighting kites
• Italy brought Italian sculptural kites
• Chinese brought Flying Dragon kites
• For other kites, see list of Kite types

At the same time, the festival is the occasion for many public entities such as famous dancers, singers, actors or politicians who make an appearance and entertain the population. In 2004, for example, the Bollywood actress Juhi Chawlawas part of the celebration and performed a Garba (dance) which is very popular in India.

Types of kites

During the event, kite markets are set up alongside food stalls and performers. The kites are usually made with materials such as plastic, leaves, wood, metal, nylon and other scrap materials but the ones for Uttarayan are made of light-weight paper and bamboo and are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow.Dye and paint are also added to increase the glamour of the kite. The lines are covered with mixtures of glue and ground glass which when dried, rolled up and attached to the rear, also known as firkees, become sharp enough to cut skin.These types of sharp lines are used on fighter kites known in India aspatangs to cut down other kites during various kite fighting events. During the night, on the second day of the festival, illuminated kites filled with lights and candles known as tukals or tukkals are launched creating a spectacle in the dark sky

Location

The International Kite Festival takes place in Gujarat India. The festival is called Uttarayan. The festival is celebrated in many cities of Gujarat like Ahmedabad,Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Nadiad. However, the International Kite Event takes place in Ahmedabad (Kite capital of Gujarat) which accommodates visitors from many international destinations.

The best place to enjoy this festival is the Sardar Patel Stadium (the cricket stadium with capacity of over 54,000 people) or the Ahmedabad Police Stadium, where people lay down to see the sky filled with thousands of kites 

During the festival week the markets are flooded with kite buyers and sellers. In the heart of Ahmedabad, there is one of the most famous Kite market- Patang Bazaar, which during the festive week opens 24 hours a day with buyers and sellers negotiating and buying in bulk.

Moreover, many families in Ahmadabad start making kites in home and setup small shops in their home itself.

There is also a Kite Museum, which is located at Sanskar Kendra in Paldi area of Ahmedabad. It was established in 1985, which has a numerous collection of unique kites.