Uttarayan in Gujarat: flying home for the kite festival

What Uttarayan is

Uttarayan marks the sun’s move into Capricorn and the turn towards longer days. Unlike most Hindu festivals, it follows the solar calendar, so it falls on 14 January almost every year, with the second day, Vasi Uttarayan, on 15 January.

In Gujarat it is the festival of kites. From dawn to dusk, rooftops fill with families, music and the cry of kai po che as one kite cuts another. In the evening, paper lanterns called tukkal float into the sky.

When to book

Uttarayan falls in the middle of the winter wedding season, just after Christmas and New Year, which keeps fares to Gujarat high through December and January. Flights in the second week of January fill quickly, especially the Gatwick to Ahmedabad non-stop.

Many families combine Uttarayan with a wedding or a long winter visit. If you can travel just after the UK New Year, you may find better fares than in December.

Our tip: Book the flights before you book anything else. Hotels in Ahmedabad also fill up around the international kite festival.

Ahmedabad and the international kite festival

Ahmedabad is the capital of Uttarayan. The old city pols, with their tightly packed rooftops, are the classic place to fly kites, and many families rent a terrace for the day. The Gujarat government organises an international kite festival, usually on the Sabarmati Riverfront, with flyers from around the world in the days before Uttarayan.

The kite markets around Raipur and Manek Chowk stay open late in the days before the festival, selling kites, firki and manja.

Flights to Gujarat

The main ways to get home for the festival.

Food of Uttarayan

Undhiyu, the winter vegetable dish, with jalebi, is the traditional Uttarayan lunch, and families snack on chikki, til ladoo and sugarcane on the rooftops all day. If you want to bring chikki back to the UK, keep it in its packaging and check the UK rules on food.

Safety on the day

Manja, the coated kite string, is sharp and can cause serious cuts. Wear gloves or tape your fingers when flying, keep children supervised on rooftops, and take care on two-wheelers, as loose string across roads is a real hazard. Glass-coated and synthetic string is restricted, so use cotton manja where you can.

Birds are often injured by kite string, and many cities run bird rescue centres during the festival. Flying in the early morning and evening, when birds are most active, is discouraged.

Weather in January

January in Gujarat is dry and pleasant, with warm, sunny days and cool mornings and evenings. A light jumper is useful early in the day and after dark, and sunglasses and a hat help on a long day on the roof.

Combining Uttarayan with a winter trip

Uttarayan falls during the Rann Utsav season in Kutch, which runs from 1 November 2026 to 7 March 2027. A few days in the white desert after the festival makes a memorable winter trip. See our Kutch and White Rann tour.

For temple visits on the same trip, see our Gujarat temple pilgrimage guide.

Travelling with children and grandparents

Children love Uttarayan, but rooftops need supervision. For grandparents, a shaded spot on the terrace and plenty of water make the day enjoyable. Book wheelchair help on the flights, and see our guides to flying with children and assisted travel.

Makar Sankranti across India

The same day is celebrated across India under different names: Makar Sankranti in much of the north and west, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Lohri the evening before in Punjab, and Magh Bihu in Assam. Kites are flown in many places, but nowhere on the scale of Gujarat.

Kite flying basics

Gujarati kites are light, square paper kites, and the fun is in the patang fights, cutting another kite’s string with your own. One person flies while another holds the firki, the spool. The manja near the kite is coated for cutting, and the rest is plain thread.

Buy kites and manja from the old city markets in the days before, when the stalls are at their busiest, and ask relatives to show children how to launch a kite from the roof.

Where else to celebrate

Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot all celebrate on a huge scale, with every rooftop busy from dawn. Smaller towns and villages are just as lively, and being with family on a familiar terrace is what most people remember.

If you are visiting relatives in more than one city, spend Uttarayan in one and Vasi Uttarayan in another, as the festival runs over two days.

Evening lanterns and music

As the light fades, families light tukkal, paper lanterns, and send them into the sky, and the rooftops become a sea of lights and music. Sky lanterns are a fire risk and are restricted in some places, so follow local rules and keep them away from buildings and trees.

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