Uttarayan – The kite festival of Ahmedabad
By Zalak Patel | Published on : January 21, 2020
The Gregorian new year brings with it a multitude of harvest festivals. India is an agrarian economy. Where the impetus is on abundant crop harvest and prosperity. Therefore people offer gratitude for the bumper yield. In other words, harvest festivals are celebrated all across the country under different names. Uttarayan is one such harvest festival. It marks the Sun’s entry into the zodiac sign Capricorn or the Makar Rashi, officially signaling the end of the winter months and initiating longer days.
The Festival !!!
Uttarayan is the only Hindu festival that falls on the exact date and not on tithi. Gujaratis celebrate Uttarayan for two days: the 14th and 15th of January. The 15th is the second day. We celebrate it as Vasi Uttarayan. ‘Vasi’ in Gujarati means stale. So Vasi Uttarayan literally means stale Uttarayan. For instance like food becoming stale the next day.
Food
Preparations start with great zeal around a week before. In Gujarat, all major festivals have specific food items like dhaani for Holi, fafda jalebi for Dussehra, mathiya-ghughra for Diwali and many more. Similarly, for Uttarayan too there are a good number of food items on the anvil. For instance, people consume seasonal fruits like guavas and berries and Khichado ( a preparation of multiple dals and grains in sweet and spicy variants. This is the harvest time. Therefore, people use new grains to make Khichado. In addition, people make chikkis of assorted ingredients from peanuts to puffed rice( mamra) flakes broken gram lentils ( dadiyas) in combination with jaggery. Above all, til laddoo ( sesame balls), undhiyu (a vegetable delicacy), jalebi ( a popular sweet) and sugar cane are eaten.
Festivities
The night before, the womenfolk of the households are busy with their undhiyu preparation. The men of the house tie ‘Kinna’ of kites and keep them ready for flying. The kids and elders enthusiastically shop for kites and essentials. Families, friends, and relatives get together and indulge in merrymaking and revelry. Chants of ‘kaipo che’,’lapet’,’’jaay jaay’, ‘firki veet’ echo through the air. As the sun sets and night befalls, Chinese lanterns and tukkals ( large kites attached with paper lanterns to the manjha) do the skies. After that, Garbas at night adds more fun. Finishing the festivities with the traditional folk dance archetypical to the state.
