Uttarayan 2023: A Throwback to PM Narendra Modi's Poems Celebrating Kites

HAPPY UTTARAYAN 2023: Uttarayan is among the most important festival in Gujarati culture. The word Uttarayan is made of two Sanskrit word – ‘uttara’ which means north, and ‘ayana’ which means movement. Uttarayan refers to the movement of the Sun towards the northern hemisphere, marking the end of the winter season and the beginning of longer days.

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A key part of the Uttarayan celebration in Gujarat is kite flying. And like any other Gujarati, these rituals of kite flying is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s heart. Before Narendra Modi took over as the PM in 2014, he penned poems in Gujarati and Hindi talking about kites and their free nature.

In the poem, PM Modi wrote about the symbolic importance of kites. He compares them to life and the battles one must face in the world. However, with clarity in thought, one can manoeuvre through the challenges in a way to reach greater heights in life while growing closer to spirituality.

Gujarat hosts one of the biggest kite festivals of the world during Uttarayan. During his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi worked for the promotion of the festival, making it a global attraction for tourists.

While the festival was being organized since 1989, the vision of PM Modi gave it a global audience and scaled up participation from other countries as well. The celebration of Uttrayan, however, had remained incomplete during the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With COVID infection under control, the International Kite Festival is set to make a comeback in Ahmedabad and various other cities of the state, including Rajkot, Surat, and Bhavnagar. Organised by the Gujarat Tourism Corporation Ltd, the International Kite Festival with the theme of G20 will begin on January 14.

Kite flyers and enthusiasts from G20 nations along with other participants from around the world will land in Ahmedabad to take part in the special celebration.

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