Harvest · Surya (the Sun)
Uttarayan
Gujarat's kite festival: rooftops full of people and a sky full of colour as the Sun turns north.
Also known as: Gujarat Kite Festival, Vasi Uttarayan
Date and muhurat
✓ 28.6519°N, 77.2315°E · Asia/Kolkata
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When is it observed?
On the day the Sun enters Makara (Capricorn), which is Makar Sankranti, in the month of Pausha or Magha. Gujarat keeps two days: Uttarayan on the Sankranti day and Vasi (stale) Uttarayan on the day after.
About Uttarayan
Uttarayan is the Gujarati name for the festival of the Sun's northward turn. The word means "northern movement", and in Gujarat it has grown into a kite festival so loved that offices and schools close and families spend the whole day on their terraces.
From dawn people fly kites, cheer when a rival's string is cut with the call "Kai Po Che!", and eat seasonal food. The second day, Vasi Uttarayan, carries on the fun with leftovers and fresh kites. Ahmedabad also hosts an international kite festival around this time.
Significance
The Sun's shift to the northern course is traditionally regarded as the beginning of a brighter, more auspicious half of the year. Many people take a dip in a river, pray to the Sun, and give alms and food at this time.
Flying kites in the winter sun is also seen as a pleasant way to take in sunlight and to gather the community. Beyond the sport, the festival is about neighbours meeting on rooftops, sharing food, and giving to the poor and to animals.
How Uttarayan is kept
- 1Wake early, bathe, and offer water to the rising Sun with a short prayer.
- 2Prepare tilgul-based sweets such as til chikki, along with other seasonal treats, to be shared through the day.
- 3Go up to the terrace with kites, spools of string (the "firki"), caps and sunscreen, usually with the whole family.
- 4Fly kites and try to cut the strings of others; a cut kite is greeted with shouts, music and drums.
- 5For lunch, cook the traditional undhiyu, a mixed winter-vegetable dish, with jalebi or puri.
- 6Give alms, grain and clothes to the needy and green fodder or sweets to cows, which is considered meritorious on this day.
- 7On Vasi Uttarayan, fly kites again and finish the remaining food from the day before.
The story
Uttarayan rests on the older story of the Sun's northward course. In the Mahabharata, the grand elder Bhishma, lying on a bed of arrows, is said to have waited for this turning of the Sun before leaving the world, because the northern course is considered the auspicious path of passing.
Kite-flying itself has no single origin story. Local tradition says it grew from the winter custom of spending time in the sun and later became a lively competition among neighbourhoods, with markets in Ahmedabad and Surat preparing for weeks beforehand.
What to do
- ✓Use cotton string and avoid sharp glass-coated or metal-coated manja.
- ✓Keep an eye out for birds and avoid flying kites at dawn and dusk when they travel.
- ✓Stay away from the terrace edge and keep children supervised.
- ✓Share chikki, undhiyu and sweets with neighbours.
- ✓Feed cows and give to those in need.
What to avoid
- ✕Do not use Chinese or synthetic manja that can injure people and birds.
- ✕Do not run along rooftops or roads while looking at the sky.
- ✕Do not fly kites near power lines.
- ✕Do not leave fallen string and kites lying about.
- ✕Avoid loud music that disturbs the sick and elderly.
Around the country
- Ahmedabad and old city areas: the pol houses and terraces fill up from dawn, and the International Kite Festival draws visitors.
- Rajasthan, especially Jaipur, and parts of Uttar Pradesh also keep Sankranti with kites.
- Maharashtra: Sankranti is marked by exchanging tilgul with the words "tilgul ghya, god god bola".
- Punjab and Haryana: the day before is Lohri, with bonfires, and the Sankranti day is Maghi.
Frequently asked questions
Is Uttarayan the same as Makar Sankranti?
They fall on the same day. Uttarayan is how Gujarat celebrates Sankranti, with kites as the main attraction.
What is Vasi Uttarayan?
It is the second day of the festival. "Vasi" means stale, since people eat food prepared the day before while continuing to fly kites.
What does "Kai Po Che" mean?
It is a Gujarati cry meaning roughly "it has been cut", shouted when someone cuts a rival's kite.