Uttarayan - The kite festival of India

During Makara Sankaranthi, the International Kite festival takes place in Gujarat. It is a very unique festival in India whence the whole sky is filled with kites from dawn till dusk. The festival marks the going off of winter and setting in of summer. Not only the people of the state but kite makers and kite flyers from all over the world participate in this festival. Kite making competition, Kite flying competition, Kite decorating competition all take place.

Kite Spools at Patang Bazaar

The sky will be crowded with all shapes and sizes of kites. The kites are made of springy bamboo frames, kite paper and spool. The string of the kite is coated with a special mixture of glue and glass and is made sharp as possible to cut the strings of the rival kites. The streets of the bazaars of Ahmedabad are crowded with the kite supplies as early as the month of November and the Patang Bazaar of Ahmedabad is open for kite lovers for all 24 hours the week preceeding the kite festival.

The wonderful thing of this kite festival is that the whole family set to fly the kites and compete with other families. Special foods like laddoos, undhyu, Surat Jamun and lots of other Gujarati Special items are prepared and shared with friends, neighbours and relatives.

From the year 1989, Ahmedabad hosts the International Kite Festival as a part of the celebration of Uttarayan. Master kite makers and flyers from all over the world demonstrate their unique skill. The kite festival witnesses Malaysian kite makers who make Wau-Balang Kites, Indonesian kites of LLayang - LLayang, Banner kites from USA, Rokkaku fighting kites from Japan, Sculptural kites from Italy, Flying dragon kites from China.