For hundreds of years Gujaratis from all walks of life have celebrated the day when according to the Hindu calendar the sun passes through the winter solstice from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn (Makara). The date is the 14th of January. The City of Ahme-dabad as well as Surat, Nadiad and Vadodara are centers of the festival “Utta-rayan.”

Kites are over one thousand years old in India. In 1300 AD, the word “Gurdhi” meaning ‘kite’ was first used by Santnambe in his Hindustani song. The poet Manzan used the word ‘patang’, the more common word for kite, in his poem of 1542 A. D. Miniature paintings of the markets and pastimes of the people of Gujarat frequently depict people flying kites especially from rooftops. Kites are securely a part of India’s cultural heritage.

Ahmedabad has the largest business of kites in all of Gujarat. Kite craftspeople from all over India have settled in the city to spend at least three months preparing for one day. Paper and bamboo kites are mass-produced along with coated flying lines, spools and paper lanterns. Lack of private space has forced kite craftspeople (particularly the string makers) onto the streets. These industrious makers are the first signs of the ‘kite fever’ that culminates in a day of wild battles from rooftops in the old city and sports fields in the suburbs; of fireworks, special food, music and fierce competition to cut the other kite out of the sky. The evening is completed after dark by the flying of ‘tukkals’ (paper lanterns) from white kites in a chain of lights to the heavens.

My first impression of Ahmedabad and the National Institute of Design (NID), where I came as a visiting faculty member in 1993, was of the ‘manjha’ string makers on the sidewalk opposite the Institute. On a mild November day they spend hours dipping their bare hands into fluorescent pink and green pots and coating thread stretched between bamboo poles on the sidewalk. Although the festival was almost three months away, I knew I had come to a kite-makers Mecca.

In the weeks that followed, I worked with 16 students on a kite workshop / exhibition and film project. We made expeditions into the medieval walled city in central Ahmedabad to find the kite-makers and the paper merchants. As the day of the festival grew closer, more and more shops that previously sold shoes or hardware became kite stalls. By the day before the festival, the streets were packed with people carrying bundles of kites waiting for the day to commence.

To understand the spirit of the Kite Festival you need to know about the making of all parts of the kite flying kit. A good place to begin is with the ‘manjha’ or flying line. The brightly coloured coating I first saw with the street-makers turned out to be ground glass light bulbs and rice paste. This is a lethal combination on fine sewing line that is spooled onto ‘firkis’ (flying reels) for ease of handling in the kite battle. Manjha spooled onto a ‘firki’ (flying reel) turn the kite into a moving razor blade. Once the kite is launched the flyer seeks out kites on nearby rooftops and maneuvers their kite into striking position. A sudden tug on the line can send the opponent floating to the ground. It is this getting and losing of kites that is the heart of Uttarayan.

The kites themselves are made of tissue paper and bamboo. In the professional kite workshops a prepared kite surface can be assembled in nine seconds (We timed them)! Some kite masters with their assistants completed over 2000 kites in a day. The kite surface is usually a solid colour but simple and elaborate cut paper designs are often used as a signature of a particular workshop. In the kite market you can find printed kites with faces of the latest Hindi movie stars as well as popular television personalities. The Indian flag is another popular motif.

When you buy kites they come in sets of five. They can vary in price from Rs. 1 to Rs. 20 each depending on the size, quality and decoration of the kite. The most elaborate decorative kites are not usually used for fighting and can cost Rs. 300 - 500. (Rs. 25 = $1 CAD).

Sometime in the 1980’s workshops began producing recycled kites made out of off prints of plastic packaging and other wrapping materials. These kites seemed innovative when they first appeared but faded in popularity, as they were not bio-degradable. Cows and goats were choking on the kites in the days after the festival. There has been some effort to eliminate plastic kites from the repertoire.

Armed with 50 to 100 kites, the serious kite flyer goes to the central part of Manek Chowk (the old market) and buys ‘manjha’ and ‘firkis’. There are many other types of kite paraphernalia available including ‘tukkals’ (lanterns) and finger guards (made from the tips of latex gloves) in assorted colours.

In the homes of kite flyers all over the city, families prepare special foods for the festival. These include ‘tilgul’ or ‘laddoos’ sesame sweets made with jaggery (raw sugarcane). ‘Kichiri’ (a combination of rice, dal and curd) is eaten and given away as charity. A special dish called ‘undhyoo’ (also oondhioon) a mixture of nine winter vegetables stewed overnight in a clay pot and sweetened with ‘jaggery’ is special to this festival because it is made during the time of harvest.

As kite flyers visit various rooftops they are treated to this food along with cold drinks. All of this is taken in a spirit of family and friendly competition to get the most kites. Cheers of encouragement and shouts of “Kapayo Chai” or “Woh Kata Hai!” Ring from the rooftops as adversaries’ kites are cut down and experts find victory throughout.

When evening comes, and the sunsets the sky and trees are littered with the ‘flowers’ of millions of fallen kites. The serious kite flyers begin their final competition with firecrackers and helium balloons with candles to test the night winds. A strong white kite, easy to spot in the darkened sky, is kept for the launching of ‘tukkals’ the lanterns signifying the end of the festival. It is not just the challenge of launching the lanterns at this final stage that continues the sport of the day. You need a team of guards to fly kites all around your lanterns in order to prevent your neighbors from cutting down the chain of light.

On the day after Uttarayan, the cows and goats in the city feast on the left over paper and bamboo. Gradually the city is cleared of fallen kites. A few children continue to fly kites in order to practice for next year. The transformed merchants return to their original activities and life becomes the stories of great cutting and saving of kites or numbers of lanterns sent to the heavens.

Skye Morrison, a resident of Hastings, Ontario, is a speacialist in Textiles and Design History and teaches at Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario.