17 things Gujaratis do during uttarayan

The transition of the Sun into Makar(Capricorn) is the time when we celebrate the festival Uttrayan or Makar-Sankranti. It is commonly known as the kite flying festival.

Celebrated widely and enthusiastically in Gujarat, the Gujaratis have some unique ways of  enjoying the festival. Of what I have noticed, there are some really interesting things which every Gujarati can be seen doing during Uttrayan. Here are a few of them –

1. There has to be a guy/girl acting as the DJ on the terrace.

female djSource

2. Most of the ladies of the house are busy cooking Undhiyu.

undhiyuSource

3. People invite friends and relatives to their terraces for the celebration. All the terraces can be seen full of people celebrating and enjoying.

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4. Some extremely delicious sweets – Chikki are eaten along with jalebis

chikki1Source

5. Most of the people can be seen fighting and arguing on the terrace regarding this one context – “tu maari firki pakad!” :D

UttarayanSource

6. Even if the hand starts bleeding due to the sharp threads, people cover it with band aids and tapes and continue flying kites. 

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7. When a kite goes from above the terrace, people leave everything to go catch it. This may include leaving the already flying kite as well!

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8. Not a single person can be seen without shades/goggles/sunglasses/aviators. Some of these are of horrific bright colors.

goggles in uttarayanSource

9. The ladies of neighboring terraces can be seen gossiping and collecting random threads and knitting them at the same time.

females on the terrace in uttarayanSource

10. There is always that one guy on the terrace who will look out for girls to flirt in the nearby terraces.

flirting on the terraceSource

11. Most of the houses have irritating vuvuzelas (peepudi, as referred to, in Gujarati) to make noise when they cut someone’s kite

vuvuzelas in uttarayanSource

12. People start flying Gubbare or air balloons in the evenings, so much so that the sky becomes a pretty, pretty sight!

air balloons in the skySource

air balloons in the sky 2Source

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13. As the sun sets, people start dancing on the tunes of music on the terraces!

SunsetSource

dancing in uttarayan

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14. By dancing, most of the people mean playing Garba

daya garbaSource

15. This is followed by firecrackers

fire crackersSource

16. Most of them prefer to have dinner on the terrace itself

dinner on the terraceSource

17. People sit on the terraces till late nights and have fun

having fun till late night in uttarayanSource

How do you celebrate your Uttarayan? Let me know in the comments section below!

Meanwhile, happy Makar Sankranti :)

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