Indian Kite Flying | Festival india

Kites and Indian Kite flying have been associated with India since ages and it has not just been labeled to a festival of Makarsankranthi but also as one of the favorite pass times for people of all age groups. Although the major importance of it is seen during Uttarayan, wherein people start flying kite’s days prior to the festival and continue it for days long post-festival too. The traditional “Patang” still stands out to be the most popular and common kite which is flown all over the country during the festival time. A patang is a very simple yet colorful kite which has a standard diamond shaped paper cut and bamboo sticks attached to it flying with a help of nylon thread attached. Kite flying is one of the most inexpensive pass time a simple kite costs under INR 10/-  which is affordable to all.

It’s interesting to see that almost all parts of the country enjoy and follow the ritual of kite flying during the festival which can be a connecting dot for all the states and cities. In olden days the kite flying culture was more prevalent in Northern states of India and slowly the southern states have picked up the pace and craze of kite flying in the passing years. The essence of kite flying custom is the same in all the cities where the tradition speaks out that flying a kite will fade away one’s sorrows and bring in happiness to their lives. Over the years Indian kite flying isn’t limited to only suffice the tradition but it has involved being treated as an Arial sport due to which there has been a lot of growth in Kite making and selling markets each year with the growing demands from kite flyers to fly various types of kites .

The very sight of colorful kites in the sky light up our moods and make us swing to their tunes as they fly across through all the directions in the sky! Each creating a unique mark of its own. Every kite flyer competes with other flyers to make sure his kite is flying higher and his kite doesn’t get cut by other kites. This volatile drama of kites intervening each other in the sky is a treat to watch for! Every year the kite enthusiasts try and experiment with flying various kites which get bigger and better in size and shape. With the growing enthusiasm of kite flyers to experiment with more complex and huge kite’s governments of various states have started to organize Kite Festivals in different cities where kitists who love flying unique colorful kites in different sizes and shape can come together and showcase their kites and kite flying talents to everyone.

These kite festivals are organized on a national and international level where kite enthusiasts from different parts of the country and world are invited to take part and showcase their kite flying skills. It’s a huge platform where people from different parts of India and the world get together and showcase different forms of kites and it also serves the purpose of mending relations between various countries and states through this unique art. The first kite festival was organized by Govt. of Gujarat in Ahmadabad in India and from then on, we have many states and cities who begin organizing kite festivals at different levels. Ahmadabad hosts the biggest International kite festival in India each year followed by Hyderabad. Due to the trend of kite festivals increasing each year we get to see very innovative kites which are being exhibited by the kite enthusiasts. Some of the kitists spend their whole year in making such huge and innovative kites which they exhibit in the Kite festival in the next year! The art of kite making and Indian kite flying has taken a bigger shape now and this is now being recognized all over the world.