The Kite Festival (Uttarayan)

I went one day in Surat, a city in the state of Gujirat to witness the Kite Flying Fetival known as Uttarayan.

The festival marks the days in the Hindu calendar when winter begins turning to summer, known as Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan. 

 

Kites of all shapes and sizes are flown, and the main competition is to battle nearby kite-flyers to cut their strings and bring down their kites. 

Competition is so strong and thrilling that some strings for the kite are coated with a mixture of glue and pieces of glass to cut more effectively over people's string ! 

The atmosphere is wonderfully festive, as whole families gather on the rooftop, special foods like laddoos , undhyu or surati jamun are prepared for eating over the course of the day, and friends and neighbors visit each other for group kite-flying fun.

  Here is a picture from the city of Ahmedabad which is the capital of the festival in Gujirat. It is the the most famous place and it attracts a lot of foreigners.