HYDERABAD: Kite making is a fascinating art while kite flying is even more exciting an art but how about kite watching? It’s sheer fun, especially if you don’t have to work hard to keep the kite flying up in the air! That’s what I did, recently at the inauguration of the 29th International Kite Festival at Ahmedabad: admiring a multitude of kites, flown from around the world that adorned the bright, sunny skies of Gujarat’s capital.
The gentle cool breeze coming over from the Sabarmati River made the kites soar higher and higher as the onlookers gasped in awe. The beautiful Sabarmati riverfront was the venue for a unique festival that reflects the celebratory spirit of the Gujaratis. The grand opening filled with traditional dances and music set the stage for the next one week.
The festival of Uttarayan is a unique Gujarati phenomenon when the skies are filled with kites from dawn until well after dusk. The festival marks the days in the Hindu calendar when winter begins to fade and days get warmer, which is known as Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan. On these bright warm sunny days throughout the state, the brisk breeze lifts the kites aloft, normal activities are suspended and everyone takes to the rooftops and roadways to fly kites and compete with their neighbours.
During this festive season, parents never have trouble waking up their kids. At the break of the dawn, they will find children already on the terrace, flying kites in the ideal pre-dawn wind. The atmosphere is wonderfully celebratory, as families gather on the rooftop, and special food items like laddoos, undhyu, and gulab jamuns are prepared for eating over the course of the day.
Kites are believed to have first arrived in India either through Muslim traders coming eastward through Persia or Buddhist pilgrims coming from China in search of sacred texts. Either way, they have a long history in the region. Since Gujarat is at the westernmost edge of India, it is one of the regions where Muslim and Hindu cultures have blended to a great degree in many aspects. Hence, the development of using kites was probably brought by Muslims, to celebrate Uttarayan, a Hindu festival. Interestingly no one knows as to when this tradition began. It’s indeed an amazing example of cultural and religious integration.
For the past 28 years, Ahmedabad has been hosting the International Kite Festival as part of the official celebration of Uttarayan, bringing master kite makers and flyers from all over the world to demonstrate their unique creations and wow the crowds with highly unusual kites. In the past years, kite makers from Malaysia, Indonesia competed with giant banner kites from the USA; Japanese rokkaku fighting kites have shared the skies with Italian sculptural kites; Chinese flying dragons fought with the latest high-tech wonders.
As against last year’s 31 countries, this year 44 countries are taking part in the Kite Festival. An estimated total of 535 kite fliers will be participating, which includes 96 from 18 different states across India, 149 participants from abroad, and 290 from different parts of the state. As a result, the kite industry and the allied products are expected to flourish with a turn over of 615 crores. Though demonetisation and GST have affected the trade circles, employment for one lakh people is generated during the festival, which lasts from 7 to 14 January. This year the state of Chattisgarh collaborated with Gujarat and with their joint efforts, the event is sure to meet success.
A special attraction for this year is the theme pavilion on “Tourist Destinations of Gujarat”, kite making workshops, origami workshops, calligraphy workshops, simple craft workshops like making gift boxes, spinning tops etc, schematic 3D stalls, adventure activities, craft bazaar and food stalls. In order to build confidence among children, 1,500 students of Municipal Corporation School performed Surya Namaskar on the inauguration day and 200 students of Bhagwat Vidyapeeth danced to Aaditya Stuti.
Every year kites of all shapes and sizes are flown, and the main competition is to battle nearby kite-flyers to cut their strings and bring down their kites. For this, people find their favoured kite-makers who prepare strong resilient kite bodies with supple bamboo frames and kite-paper stretched to exactly the right tension. Lastly, the kites are attached to a spool (or firkin) of manja: a special kite-string coated with a mixture of glue and glass powder to make it as sharp as possible for cutting strings of rival kites. Production of kites and kite supplies can be seen on the streets of Ahmedabad beginning of November, to get ready for Uttarayan, predominantly in Patang Bazaar, the special kite market that appears in the old city. For the week preceding the festival, it is open 24 hours a day for all kite lovers to stock up for the festivities
During the nights, kite fighters send up bright white kites to be seen in the darkness, and skilled flyers send aloft their tukkals with strings of brightly lit lanterns in a long line. From early morning to late night, Uttarayan provides lots of fun and beautiful sights to remember for a long time. Here’s one festival when people from all walks of life come together to celebrate life. And as always, Gujarat welcomes its guests with open arms and a warm heart!
(The author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at vijayaprataptravelandbeyond.com)