Fast Facts
Venue:Jaipur, Rajasthan
Significance: Tourist and Religious Festival
Duration of Festival:1 days
Month of Celebration: 14th January (every Year) on Makar Sankrantih
Next Date of Event: 14 Jan 2011
Reaching There: Regular trains, flights and buses from all major cities connect Jaipur with other cities.
Enjoyed by all ages alike is the Kite Festival of Jaipur. It is the time when people irrespective of their age indulge in the rapture of seeing their kites soaring high in the blue unknown. 14th January when the sun changes its direction from uttrayan to dakshinayan. Whole sky looks like a beautiful painting, vibrant with colors of red, blue, green, yellow etc. The kite swirling liberally in the blue are determinant to set free from the chords. Huge kite flying competitions are held and with each kite cutting loose, a loud shout of 'Ya Kata Bhai Wo Kata' echoes in the surroundings.
Kite flying had been a favorite of many since ages. This tradition of kite flying has been taken seriously by the Government of Rajasthan and so an International Kite Flying Festival is held in every five year at Jaipur in Rajasthan where great battles of kite flying are fought. It is the best time to witness a mosaic of various sorts of kites. Kite makers have ample opportunity to flaunt their mastery of kite making.
Attractions of Kite Festival
The festival has started a few years ago. With no religious affiliation as such, the event has become more of a tourist's delight. People enjoy hanging on their terraces right from morning till late in the evening. The loud volumed music adds to the ecstasy of kite flying battles. Withmusic and kite flying one more thing accompanies and that is delicious 'chikki'.
This tradition was revived by the Department of Rajasthan Tourism in the cultural calendar of the state.
The tourists are also equally enthusiastic about the festival. Visit the state during the season and you get to see kites of varied styles and sizes. At times you can even see some huge kites as big as 1.5 Km with various designs and patterns.
Where there are kites with some messages inscribed on them, there are some having social issues, some caricatures of politicians. Even tourists love to take part in these Kite Flying competitions. It is a real delight to see different kites strangling and struggling with each other.