Kite flying is the main feature of which festival of Gujarat, celebrated in January?

Uttarayan is the Gujarati name for Makar Sankranti, celebrated on 14 January (and 15 January, called Vasi Uttarayan). It is famous for kite flying, and on these days the skies over Gujarat, especially over Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, are filled with thousands of colourful kites.

The name Uttarayan comes from the Sanskrit "uttara" (north) and "ayana" (movement), referring to the sun's apparent northward journey, which begins on Makar Sankranti, when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Capricorn. It marks the end of winter and the beginning of longer days, and it is also a harvest festival.

On Uttarayan, people of all ages gather on the rooftops of their homes from early morning to late evening to fly kites. The main fun of the festival is the kite fights, in which people try to cut the strings of other kites with their own string, called "manja", which is coated with a mixture of glue and powdered glass to make it sharp. When a kite is cut, people shout "Kai po che!" ("I have cut it!"). In the evening, people release paper lanterns (tukkal) into the sky. Special foods eaten on this day include undhiyu (a mixed vegetable dish), chikki (made of sesame, peanuts and jaggery) and jalebi.

The Gujarat Tourism department organises the International Kite Festival every January, mainly at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, where kite flyers from many countries display their skills and colourful, unusual kites. Concerns have been raised about the harm caused to birds by sharp kite strings, and many organisations run bird rescue camps during the festival.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Navratri is celebrated in Gujarat with Garba and Dandiya, in Ashvin.
• ✗Bestu Varas is the Gujarati New Year, the day after Diwali.
• ✗Rann Utsav is the cultural festival held in the Rann of Kutch.