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R a j a s t h a n
F a i r s & F e s t i v a l s Kite Festival Kite Festival - 14th January of every year About the Festival
Activities The three-day festival starts with an inauguration at the Polo Ground, which is the venue for some serious kite flying and fighting for the three days of the festival. The festival includes two kinds of celebrations. A massive extravaganza follows, with Air Force helicopters releasing kites from the sky, and hundreds of schoolchildren releasing balloons. Kites that look like wasps, exquisite stained glass windows, graceful mythical birds soar in the sky and the sky shimmers with magic. |
14 January is celebrated in
India as Makar Sankranti - heralding the transition of the sun into the
Northern hemisphere. It is also a big kite day in most parts of India when
children from 6 to 60 can be seen with their heads turned to the sky. In
Jaipur kites virtually blot out the sky. Everyone joins in this riotous
celebration and shouts of " Woh Kata Hai !" reverberate from rooftops to
the accompaniment of drums as adversaries’ kites are cut down. And
everyone’s an adversary! Any kite in the sky is fair game.