Dear All,
Makara Sankranti, also known as Makaraa Sankrānti or Maghi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar,
in reference to deity Surya. It is observed each year in January.
It marks the first day of sun’s transit into the Makara, marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
In Gujarat:
Uttarayan, as Makar Sankranti is called in Gujarati, is a major festival in the state of Gujarat[29] which lasts for two days.
14 January is Uttarayan
15 January is Vasi-Uttarayan
Gujarati people keenly await this festival to fly kites, called ‘patang’. Kites for Uttarayan are made of special light-weight paper and bamboo and are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow. The string often contains abrasives to cut down other people’s kites.
In Gujarat, from December through to Makar Sankranti, people start enjoying Uttarayan.
Undhiyu (spicy, baked mix of winter vegetables) and chikkis (made from til (sesame seeds), peanuts and jaggery)
are the special festival recipes savoured on this day.
Happy-Uttrayan
In the major cities of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Jamnagar the skies appear filled with thousands upon
thousands of kites as people enjoy two full days of Uttarayan on their terraces.
When people cut any kites they yell words like “kaypo chhe”, “e lapet”,”jaay jaay”,”phirki vet phirki” and
“lapet lapet” in Gujarati.
Happy Uttrayan
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makar_Sankranti