Uttrayana

On the 14th January, people of Gujarat  gather on terraces to fly kites of various colours to celebrate Makar Sanskranti or Uttrayana. The Sky becomes full of Colorful Kites in the early Morning. Kites of all shapes and sizes are flown in the sky.On this day main competition is to battle nearby kite-flyers to cut their strings and bring down their kites. For this, people find their better kites with  strong resilient kite bodies with springy bamboo frames and kite-paper stretched to exactly the right tension. The kites are attached to a thread of manja. The Manaja or Firki special kite-string coated with a mixture of glue and glass to be as sharp as possible for cutting strings of rival kites.  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.

Uttarayan is celebrated in many parts of the country and also in some other parts of the world with great zeal and enthusiasm. It is a harvest festival which is basically celebrated in the Hindu communities. In Indian, the states of Bihar, Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamilnadu. In Tamil Nadu the festival is known as Pongal, in Assam as Bhogali Bihu, in Punjab, as Lohiri, in Gujarat and Rajasthan, as Uttararayan. In Uttar Pradesh it is celebrated as Khichdi or Donation festival. In Bihar it is known as Til Sankranti or Khichdi festival. Outside India, the festival is given due importance in the countries like Nepal where it is celebrated as Maghe Sakrati or Maghi, in Thailand where it is named as Songkran and in Myanmar where it is called Thingyan.