kite-festivalmakar-sankranti | Kite Festival(Makar Sankranti)

Tuesday, 06 October 2009 06:40

Kite Festival (Makar Sankranti)-Gujarat

About:

Tourism of Gujarat, offers travel related information concerning Kite festival which is held on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, which is celebrated all across the length and breadth of the country with varying intensity. Makar Sankranti is well known but the exciting and thrilling adjunct to the festive day, that is, Kite flying is popular in only some of the regions of the country with Gujarat, leading the way in terms of the people's participation and the fervor of the celebrating folks and the intensity they display in their annual merriment.

The festival of Uttarayan is a uniquely Gujarati phenomenon, when the skies over most cities of the state fill with kites from before dawn until well after dark. The festival marks the days in the Hindu calendar when winter begins turning to summer, known as Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan. On what is usually a bright warm sunny day with brisk breezes to lift the kites aloft, across the state almost all normal activity is shut down and everyone takes to the rooftops and roadways to fly kites and compete with their neighbors.

Since 1989, the city of Ahmedabad has hosted the International Kite Festival as part of the official celebration of Uttarayan, bringing master kite makers and flyers from all over the world to demonstrate their unique creations and wow the crowds with highly unusual kites. In past years, master kite makers from Malaysia have brought their wau-balang kites, llayang-llayang have come from Indonesia, kite innovators from the USA have arrived with giant banner kites, and Japanese rokkaku fighting kites have shared the skies with Italian sculptural kites, Chinese flying dragons, and the latest high-tech modern wonders. A master kite maker and famous kite flyer Rasulbhai Rahimbhai of Ahmedabad trains of up to 500 kites on a single string have come to be a classic attraction. Almost every known variety of kite can be seen in the skies over Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, from box kites to high-speed sport kites, from windsocs and spinsocs to hand-painted artistic kites.

Kites of all shapes and sizes are flown, and the main competition is to battle nearby kite-flyers to cut their strings and bring down their kites. For this, people find their favored kite-makers who prepare strong resilient kite bodies with springy bamboo frames and kite-paper stretched to exactly the right tension. Lastly, the kites are attached to a spool (or firkin) of manja, special kite-string coated with a mixture of glue and glass to be as sharp as possible for cutting strings of rival kites. Production of kites and kite supplies can be seen on the streets of Ahmedabad beginning in November, to get ready for Uttarayan, and nowhere more so than in Patang Bazaar, the special kite market that appears in the old city. For the week preceding the festival, it is open 24 hours a day for all kite lovers to stock up for the festivities.

Time(indian calendar Tithi):

This festival, unlike other Hindu festivals, is not dependent on the position of the moon, but on position of the sun. On this day, the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn. To compensate for the difference that occurs due to the revolution around the sun, every eighty years the day of sankrant is postponed by one day. In the present period Makar-sankrant falls on 14th January.

Climate/Weather:

The land relief in Gujarat is low in most parts of the state, resulting in a great diversity in the climate of Gujarat India. Gujarat experiences mild, pleasant and dry winters, with average daytime temperatures ranging around 83 °F(29 °C) and night temperatures around 53 °F(12 °C). The summers are very hot and dry, with day temperatures rising up to around 105 °F(41 °C) and night temperatures dropping to 85 °F(29 °C).

History:

Kites are believed to have first arrived in India either through Muslim traders coming eastward through Persia or Buddhist pilgrims coming from China in search of sacred texts. Either way, they have a long history in the region. Over 1000 years ago, kites were mentioned in song by the composer Santnambe, and numerous classic miniature paintings of typical scenes in the area depict people flying kites. Since Gujarat is at the westernmost edge of India, it is one of the regions where Muslim and Hindu cultures have blended to a great degree in many aspects. Hence, the development of using kites, probably brought by Muslims, to celebrate Uttarayan, a Hindu festival. Still, no one knows exactly when this tradition began.

Importance of festival:

In Gujarat, Makar Sankranti is kite-flying day. Traditionally celebrated on January 13 or 14, it is a holiday when every family can be meet outdoors 'cutting' each other's kites. This immensely popular kite flying festival is held in all the important cities of Gujarat. The festival lures expert kite-makers and fliers not only from major cities of India but also from around the world. A plethora of designer kites are also put on display.

The International Kite Festival is always held at Ahmedabad on January 14, to coincide with the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. The people of Gujarat celebrate Uttarayan with a lot of enthusiasm and all business comes to a grinding halt for a couple of days. It is also a celebration to mark the end of winter.

Method of Celebration:

Fly kites:
Today, when the Nation and Dharma are in peril, flying kites for the sake of entertainment is akin to, 'Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burnt'. If the time spent on flying kites is used for the development of the Nation, it will make it progress faster; and if used for spiritual practice and missions related to Dharma, then society and the individual will benefit.

Offering:
Importance of making an offering during an auspicious period: The period from Makarsankrant to Rathsaptami is an auspicious period. Any donation and meritorious deeds in this period prove more fruitful.

Substances offered:
An offering of new vessels, clothing, food, sesame seeds, pot of sesame seeds, jaggery, a cow, a horse, gold or land should be made depending on the capability. On this day, married women also make some offering. They take things from unmarried girls and give them sesame seeds and jaggery in return. Married women organise a ceremony of haldi-kumkum (applying vermilion and turmeric to the forehead) and gift articles to other married women

Importance of a gift:
Giving a gift to another woman amounts to surrendering to the Divinity in the other, through body, mind and wealth. Since the period of sankrant is favourable for spiritual practice, a gift given during this period results in bestowal of Divine grace and the jiva (embodied soul) gets the desired fruit.

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Culture of festivities:

celebration:
Kite flying begins at dawn and continues without a pause throughout the day. Friends, neighbors and total strangers battle one another for supremacy and cries of triumph rend the air when someone cuts the line of a rival. A tremendous variety of kites are seen and the connoisseur can choose precisely what he wants. Experts specially prepare the lines with which the kites are flown on the great day.

People of all ages gather on terraces or rooftops and engage in kite flying. There is music in the air and traditional delicacies are especially prepared for this day. The Gujarat State Tourism Corporation organizes an International Kite Festival every year and the venue of the event is either the Sardar Patel Stadium or the Police Stadium in Ahmedabad. This festival attracts international kite flyers and local champions as well, who demonstrate their skills in flying exotic kites. Come night and the illuminated kites known as tukals soar into the sky to compete with the stars.