No Context Crow #275: Kite Crow

Created by Andrew Maize!

Kite festival organized by the Pioneer Association and the Institute of Folklore, Nagyrét, 1983. From the Budapest Municipal Photography Company archive.

I’m flying a shark kite rn which a bunch of other big kites in the air..which gave me an idea for fanart..someone should probably draw shiny and thunder interacting with big kites in the air..it’d probably be funny if shiny got tangled up in the kite rope aswell lmao..

Koi kites. 🐠🪁

hey look I did an animate :)

Junebug Paperwing and her kite

The Simple Things Are The Most Real. 🪁

Adorkable Twilight & Friends - “Kite Kids”

https://www.patreon.com/adorkabletwilightandfriends

https://twitter.com/AdorkableTwili1

http://adorkabletwilightandfriends.wikia.com

http://adorkabletwixfriends.deviantart.com

Sunny Daze stimboard for anon 🌤️🏖️

x / 🌤️ / x

x / 🏖️ / x

x / 🌤️ / x

Oh, hey, now that I know how to do polls, I can ask this:

Had to pare down the Bonus Category 2 answer to fit in the space provided; hope it makes sense.

For consistency: Please answer in the "Easter" category if your celebration is derived from and scheduled around Easter, even if your practices do not include religious elements. (E.g., if it happened this weekend and included bunnies and eggs, count it as Easter.)

Please use Bonus Category 1 if your Spring kite-flying is associated with a specific holiday (or other special day/occasion). If you generally associate kites with Spring, but there's no particular day for it, that falls under Bonus Category 2.

If you choose one of the "yes kites" answers, please share where you live/what cultural group you belong to, if you feel comfortable doing so! I'm asking because my extended family has flown kites at Easter for at least 5 generations, and we don't know where the tradition came from.

And if you have something interesting to say about kites, Spring, or holidays that doesn't fall into one of the categories, feel free to share that too!

Celebrating Makar Sankranti in India

Every year Makar Sankranti falls on the 14th or 15th of January, and there’s a good reason for that too. The term “Sankranti” refers to the movement of the Sun from one Zodiac to another, so there are a grand total of 12 Sankrantis. What makes Makar Sankranti special? During Makar Sankranti, the Sun moves from Sagittarius or Dhanu Rashi to Capricorn or Makar Rashi, in numerous ways this signifies a new beginning. The Sun which moves into the Northern Hemisphere leads to longer days and the end of the Indian Winter. It falls during the harvest season, with freshly cut crops offered to gods and subsequently eaten. The period signifies “fertility” and bursting into action after the slow and delirious winter season. It ushers in the “auspicious” part of the year which lasts until Karkata Sankranti which falls somewhere in July. It is also the only festival celebrated going by the solar calendar. The contrast between the cozy western holiday season and the vibrant onset of Hindu fertility is an abrupt transition but goes perfectly with the hopeful nature of the new year. 

All over India, Makar Sankranti is celebrated in different ways with each one doing their own thing. 14th/15th January signifies not one or two but many festivals.

In Tamil Nadu, the festival is known as Pongal, which translates to “to boil, overflow” and freshly cut rice is cooked with milk and jaggery. The Tamil version can be traced back to the Chola empire, so roughly around the 9th to 13th century. Spread over three days (and a lesser-known fourth day), each day has its own significance. The first day is known as Bhogi Pongal or Indran and focuses on cleaning the house, as each member dusts and scrubs until every surface is squeaky clean. The second day is called Thai Pongal or Surya Pongal and is the most important day, the Pongal is made and first offered to the gods, then the cattle, and only after that are the family members allowed to have it. The third day is spent grooming and worshipping the cattle.

Uttayaran in Gujarat can only be defined by one word, “vibrant”. Strewn across skies are kites that made for a tapestry. There is an industry revolving around this particular time of the year, as kite sales skyrocket (pun intended) and officials from different countries come to participate in kite competitions. The reason behind flying kites is that being out in the Sun after the winter helps kill germs and be more exposed to Vitamin D. Dishes like Undhiyo that are nearing the end of their season are relished for the last time.

If we go farther North, we come across Lohri, the Punjabi variant of Makar Sankranti. The folklore attached to Lohri is of a man known as Dulla Bhat, who lived during the reign of Emperor Akbar. He used to steal from the rich and distribute it among the poor. In his honor, people sing “Sundar Mundriye” during Lohri. This story is different than the religious and godly myths surrounding the other festivals, and it’s fascinating how a festival honors a man who worked for the needy. Punjab is a largely agrarian state, so the festivities are rooted in harvesting crops. People get together around huge bonfires and eat everything from Chikki to Saro ka Saag. 

There are tons of other festivals on this day, in Assam it's called Magh Bihu with games like tekeli-bhonga (pot-breaking) and buffalo fighting taking place. In Bihar, locals have chuda-dahi (beaten rice and yogurt) and a portion of gur (jaggery), and in Bengal, it’s called Poush Sankranti and have sweets like pithe, patishapta, etc. with rice and palm jaggery.

- Priyanshu

Painting Credits: Ladies on a Terrace Kite-fighting, circa 1775.

Happy Lunar New Year 🧧

Flying a kite is like releasing your worries and fears into the wind. 🪁

Finding nature's rhythm in the heart of the city. 🚲🌳🦅

Ostara tomorrow. The goofballs went out and flew a kite.

It was 30F and very windy. We laughed like idiots. It crashed into the snow 3 times and we pulled it in after about 10 minutes as it was too cold for the old fat ladies.

Went home and made hot chocolate.

@dollypegs-blog is working out chapter 352 and Stevie needs a nap.