Uttarayan is the northern transit of Sun or Lord Surya and sun enters the Makar Rashi or Capricorn. Uttarayan 2022 date is on January 14 in Gujarati calendars.
The occasion is also known as Makar Sankranti or Sankranti. In South India, the northern transit of the Sun is known as Uttarayana Punyakalam for six months and is thought to be the Devas’ daytime.
Surya Sankranti, or the transition of the sun into Makar, or Capricorn, is considered extremely auspicious and meritorious. According to Saint Jaimini, the 12 hours and 46 minutes preceding and following Sankranti are sacred.
During this time, it is believed that making donations and assisting the poor will bring the donor merit.
The northern path is considered to be the path of Moksha symbolically.
Millions of people in Uttarayan take a holy dip in the sacred rivers of Ganga and Yamuna, particularly at Prayag or Allahabad’s Sangam. Thousands of people also take a holy dip in Bengal’s Gangasagar.
Uttarayan Food:
Grains from the new harvest are used to make ‘khichdo,’ a dish. Another important ritual involves friends, relatives, and neighbours exchanging a mixture of sesame seed and jaggery.
The exchange of sesame and jaggery symbolises people forgetting and forgiving all past ill will and fights and beginning anew on Uttarayan. During the festival, special sweets and delicacies such as laddoos, undhiyu, Tal-sankadi, chiki, and surati jamun are prepared.
Uttarayan is essentially nature worship and Surya or Sun God is worshiped on the day. Cows, ox and other domesticated animals are also given a bath and fed sweets and fresh grass.
Special pujas are done for the well being of domesticated animals and plants as man’s existence depends on them.
Kite Flying:
Uttarayan is a two-day festival in Gujarat and an international Kite festival is held during the period in Ahmedabad.
Thousands of kites take to the sky during the period and kite flying competitions are also held in many regions. People gather on rooftops and terraces to fly kites on this day.
Kite flyers from all over the world travel to Ahmedabad to compete in the international competition.
The festival has grown so popular that an entire market in Ahmedabad is named after kites, Patang Bazaar.
But it’s unclear how kite flying became associated with the Uttarayan festival. For over 1000 years, kite flying has been a part of the Uttarayan festival.
The kites are thought to have arrived in Gujarat via Muslim traders.