Uttarayan

               One of the most celebrated festivals of Gujarat, INDIA. In the month of January, people in large numbers gather on terraces to fly kites of various colors to celebrate Uttrayana, the welcome to the sun after the cold winter months. The atmosphere at the festival is electrifying-glass strengthened threads of the Indian fighter kites are matched against each other in the air, and the kite fighter who cuts the other thread is the victor.

Lohri marks the end of a long winter with the return of the sun to the Northern Hemisphere and hence the name Uttarayan. It is celebrated all over Gujarat but the excitement runs highest at Ahmedabad, Surat (known particularly for the strong string which is made by applying glass powder on the row thread to provide it a cutting edge) Nadiad and Vadodara. To be in any one of these places during this festival is to feel the heart and pulse of Gujarat and its people. 

The day of Uttarayan has special importance and is regarded as very auspicious. It is also believed that the Gods sleep for six months closing the doors of heaven, which open at the entrance of the sun in northern zone, i.e. in the orbit of Makara , when the Gods awake from a long slumber.

Uttarayan also has a significant relationship with the agricultural economy of the state. By this time, the Kharif crops are ready and are brought home. In an economy which is purely agricultural, domestic animals are not forgotten and grass is freely distributed to the village cattle. Uttarayan, thus, becomes a harvest festival in the true sense of the term.

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History of kites.

          No one knows exactly who flew the first kites or where they were first created, but historians believe that kites developed almost simultaneously and independently in both China and Malaysia approximately 3000 years ago. The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands used kites for many purposes, including communicating with the gods, divination, and funerals.

             One of the main uses, however, was for fishing. Bait was tied to the tail and the kite was equipped with a net to capture the hapless fish. In China, legends and stories about kites also date back about 3000 years. Stories are told of the Chinese military using kites as a distraction and a weapon to confound their enemies. The soldiers are said to have used kites to fly explosives and fireworks over their enemies' heads, causing them to believe that evil spirits were attacking. The frightened enemy troops quickly retreated. Another Chinese story tells of a general who had difficulty with his own troops after they had seen a shooting star and were frightened by it. They felt the fire falling from the sky was an evil omen and were leaving the battlefield. The general used a kite to carry a flame back up into the sky and out of sight. The soldiers were convinced that the star had been returned to the sky and that the evil omen had been reversed. They went on to win their battle.

            There is also a story from Japan about a famous robber named Kakinoki Kinsuke, who was supposed to have used a person-lifting kite to raise himself up to the roof of a castle where the were statues of dolphins made of gold. He was able to steal some of the scales from the dolphins and hid them. He did not escape the authorities, though, and came to a rather fatal end by execution.

As time went on, kites were incorporated into local customs in Asia. In Korea, it is a tradition to write the names and birth dates of male children on the kites and then to fly them. The line is then cut to ensure a good year by taking all the bad spirits with it.

           In India, kites have had a major place in the culture for centuries. The world's largest kite festival called uttrayan is held in Ahmedabad every January fourteenth and boasts over 100,000 kites in the sky at once. Kite fighting, a sport where kite flyers attempt to knock other kites from the sky, is a popular pastime. Kites are so important in this culture that the Hindi language has over 100 words for kites.

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