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Sunday, January 18, 2015

Uttarayan - The kite flying festival of India



I really enjoyed this art that we made for a special festival called "Sankranti, celebrated on 14th Jan each year. It marks end of cold, dreary winter and arrival of spring.

What is Sankrant ? 

It is a harvest festival. Farmers celebrate their happiness and welcome this season of new crops.
Sankranti is also called Uttarayana in India, which means movement of sun (rays) to North. It is considered a day of new, good, healthy, wealthy beginnings.

How is it celebrated ?
In many parts of India, it is celebrated by flying kites for the whole day, because the sunrays on this day are supposed to be very healthy. Mum made some yummy Indian sweets called "tilgul laddoos" for the festival.

Mum showed me some youtube videos and explained to me how seasons change. Seasons are mainly caused by the tilting of earth on its axis. It was a bit complicated, but I understood most of it.



Summer is a long way off here in UK. Right now it is super cold, we had snow today ! BRRRRR...., It is summer in Australia, where it is scorching hot. Australia is on the other side of the axis and it is currently facing direct sunrays. But slowly, that will change and the northern hemisphere will face sun. 

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