Makar Sankranti is incomplete without a kite; here's how to make yours at home

Makar Sankranti is celebrated as a sign of change from shorter days to longer days. According to the Hindu calendar, the sun goes into the Makar or Capricorn period. During this day, usually around January 14, the winter ends and the summer solstice starts, which marks the time for harvesting. The festival is celebrated in many different ways in India. In India, Hindus and Sikhs call it Makar Sankranti, but a few states have their lingual names for the festival. For example, in West Bengal, it is called Poush sôngkrānti. In central India, it is called Sukarat and in Assam, it is called Magh Bihu. The Tamils call it Thai Pongal. During this time, everyone comes around and celebrates in many different ways. One of the way in which Makar Sankranti is celebrated by flying kites. Here is how you can make a kite at home after which you can celebrate the festival in its whole spirit.

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How to make a kite for Makar Sankranti 2020:

To make a kite, you will need a few things that you can find at your home or you can even make the things required at home. Kites are used as a friendly way of celebrating the festival. All the fliers take the kites and fly them. If some kite comes in other flier’s territory, then they battle the kites. The one whose kite falls has to collect the kite before the one who cut it to be in the game and if the other one gets the kite, then the winner is the guy who cut the kite. Here is how you can make your own kite to have fun.

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Materials required

• Paper (square/diamond shape)
• Card stock is thicker and better than standard paper
• Tape
• Glue/ homemade glue using baked and mashed rice also works
• Scissors
• Ribbon or paper strips
• Thread
• Two bamboo dowels/ you can also use broomsticks (one the size of your paper diagonally, and one with an extra inch)

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How to make the Kite

• Fold your paper in half diagonally. Crease the paper well and open it up again.
• Take the smaller stick and tape it to the crease line that you have created.
• After taping the first stick, take the long stick and tape it to the two empty sides. It should form an arc-like structure.
• Cut the excess tape and then add ribbons or the piece of papers on a corner opposite to the arc. These ribbons or strips of paper will help your kite balance its weight while in air. The ribbon or the tail can be longer than the kite.
• After this, attach the threads where the arc and the perpendicular stick meet. Other than this, one more thread has to be attached to the first stick a few inches about the ribbon tail. After attaching the threads, you can use this tie to enjoy your Makar Sankranti.

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