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You are here: Home / Destinations / Asia / Adventures at Magical Uttarayan – The Kite Festival of Gujarat

Adventures at Magical Uttarayan – The Kite Festival of Gujarat

01/10/16 | Asia, Destinations, India


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A friend of mine recently spent a couple months working in India and I’ve asked her to share one of the highlights from her time there. Meet Jenny:

Last year, I moved from Vancouver to live in India for 6 months. While I was there, I was lucky to get the chance to experience Uttarayan, also called the Kite Festival as Gujarat. Every January 14 and 15, Gujaratis celebrate the end of winter by flying kites by day and releasing lanterns by night. I had the opportunity to see it in Ahmedabad, and it was one of the most magical experiences I had while in India.

Source: Wikimedia

Thousands of lanterns light up Ahmedab to celebrate the end of winter. Source: Wikimedia

To get a taste of the excitement, we headed off to one of the kite markets the night before. Because there was so much traffic, we got off the rickshaw several streets away. It was a good thing because there were so many people that every moving thing slowed down to a crawl.

People everywhere

People everywhere

We could feel the buzz in the air and the anticipation. Hundreds of little stalls were selling thousands of kites. When I got a look at the kites, I was surprised. They were not selling fancy kites in fantastic shapes. Instead, they were disposable, made from paper with bamboo forming the skeleton. People were buying 20-50 kites from one vendor, and then another 20-50 from another, and so on. Everyone prepared fully for this festival.

Can we open our own kite stall now?

Can we open our own kite stall now?

The next morning, we headed out to a local friend’s terrace. Apparently, he had already been flying kites for several hours. Many people start at sunrise to maximize their kite flying time. During Uttarayan, that’s where you can find most people – on a terrace somewhere.

It soon became clear why people were buying kites in bulk. Everyone is trying to cut everyone else’s kites, just like in the Kite Runner (my only source of knowledge on kite flying). The difference was that as soon as one kite was cut, you rejoined right away with a new one. As the hours progressed, more and more kites dotted the sky.

The air was quite still. Even for experienced kite fliers, it was sometimes a struggle to get a kite up. So I contented myself with observing.

In the afternoon, we left our friend’s terrace to go to another terrace in the old city. The second terrace was on top of an abandoned building in a warren of narrow streets in the old city. The buildings stood several stories tall and close together, so there were even more kites in the sky.

Kites dotted the sky in the Old City of Ahmedabad

Kites dotted the sky in the Old City of Ahmedabad

And then, as the sun was setting, we transition from flying kites to releasing lanterns.

first-lantern-uttarayan

The first lantern to be released within my sight that night!

Basically, it’s a paper balloon, filled with hot air from the flame below. When the fuel runs out, the lantern drifts back to earth.

Slowly, the revelers grew tired of flying kites. More and more people switched to lighting lanterns. Some hardcore kite flyers still flew kites, and you can see the interesting mix of lanterns and kites in the sky.

uttarayan-dusk-kite-lantern

Kites and lanterns interspersed in the sky as the sun sets

Finally, it grew too dark to fly kites, and millions of people lit up their own lanterns to light up the night sky.

lighting-lantern-uttarayan

Lighting up my own lantern

Thousands of lights float across the darkness, like little aliens or mystical life forms migrating en masse towards a new home.

Living in North America, it’s hard to imagine the feeling of millions of people gathering to celebrate the same thing. On that day, everyone in Gujarat is connected by Uttarayan, the love of kite flying, and the beauty of lanterns floating on their own journey.

If you are in Ahmedabad for Uttarayan (lucky you!), check out Allfesto for local cultural activities and terraces for rent.

Have you been to Uttarayan? Tell me about it!

About Jenny
Jenny-headshotJenny is a podcast addict living in Vancouver BC. She grew up in Hong Kong and lived abroad in India. Her life ambition is to be financial and location independent. You can connect with her on Twitter and Linkedin.

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Comments

  1. Andrew says

    January 10, 2016 at 6:26 PM

    amazing pictures, amazing experience. would have loved to be there for that.

  2. the-worldwide says

    January 13, 2016 at 9:56 PM

    Wow! This reminds me the Shakrain Festival (known as Kite festival) of Bangladesh. This Festival is one of the most old, famous and important annual festivals of Bangladesh. This is also the largest festival of old Dhaka of Bangladesh. This is celebrated in Dhaka, Bangladesh at the end of the Bangla month Poush (January 14 or 15 in Gregorian calendar).

    • Md. Arifur Rahman says

      January 14, 2016 at 9:23 PM

      Wow Great!! Thanks to the-worldwide for mentioning about Bangladesh. I want to show you the Shakrain – The Kite Festival of Bangladesh that held yesterday. This was truly great. A day when old town shows up how much gorgeous it could be. Playing with kites, lighting, fire works, crackers, music, dance, delicious foods, day long photo shoot with crazy expression, shouting using microphone etc took the festival to never forgettable memories level. Ok lets check the Shakrain Festival – Dhaka – 2016 : https://youtu.be/HSNRMABeHEQ

    • Adelina says

      January 15, 2016 at 8:17 AM

      It really does sound quite similar. Very cool!

      • Md. Arifur Rahman says

        January 17, 2016 at 9:53 PM

        Exactly. We had a lot fun that day. If you search Shakrain Festival Bangladesh in Google you will find a lot of videos. Hope you will visit Bangladesh very soon. There are lots of fun, adventure and beautiful places in Bangladesh. Here is a guide to explore the beautiful Bangladesh http://www.abac-bd.com/bangladesh/a-guide-to-explore-the-beautiful-bangladesh.
        By the way i like your writing and following.
        Thanks !!

  3. Venetta says

    January 15, 2016 at 10:30 PM

    Hey there! Useful blog post! Please keep all of us posted!

Welcome to Pack Me To!

Adelina is a part time traveler, exploring the world despite having a full-time job. Pack Me To is a collection of stories from her travels and adventures around the world as she packs you to destinations around the world with her.

Adelina has been traveling for as long as she can remember and has lived abroad in the Netherlands and Hungary. She loves telling stories, and eating and exploring her way around the world. Come along for the ride. Read More…

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