The three-day Kite festival held at Aga Khan Academy near RGI Airport, Shamshabad concluded on Sunday. However, it will continue on Monday at Yadagirigutta and at Warangal on Tuesday.
Kite 2017, is the Telangana State’s second international kite festival. It is also the second biggest kite festival in India after Gujarat, disclosed B. Venkatesham, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Govt of Telangana. After curtain raiser night flying event on Thursday night at Necklace road where remote controlled kites were demonstrated, the festival opened with a cultural program and “Entertain and Educate–Inclusive Schools Program” on Friday.
The formal International Kite Festival 2017 began on Saturday and continued on Sunday with a lot of expectations. Hundreds of people watched kites eagerly on both the days. To match their expectations were wide variety of kites, mostly flown first time during this festival. Totally different kites were flown on both days.
According to Pavan Solanki from Royal Kite Flying Club, Ahmedabad and an expert kite flying, the ‘Ring Kite” was the biggest. That was followed by ‘Whale Kite” by the France team. Both these kites are some of the biggest kites in the world. The Whale Kite is 55 meters long. A giant crocodile kite, dragon, horse, snake, tortoise, football kites were displayed on Sunday additionally to those kites which were displayed on Saturday.
The four-member France team comprising Sylvain Francois Grez; Ms Blandine Jessica Cambon Grez; Nicolas Pierre Grez and Aline Lucette Huguette Gabillard worked hard in flying the Whale kite. It was an eye catcher to many. Many cameras clicked the monster whale kite, which was visible when flown from a kilometer distance. Some 50 different models of the kites of varied sizes and shape were flown in the sprawling 100 acre campus of Aga Khan Academy. Some of these include, the most recognized kite shape and popular kind Diamond Kites, Parafoile, Delta, Ring, Roller, Whale, Lizard, Octopus, Rokkaku, Inflatables, Diamonds, Sleds, Traditional, Dragon, Life Like Bird Kites, Stunt, Traction kites, Snake, Tortoise, Dragon, crocodile, horse, scorpion etc were on display. The sky near RGI Airport in Shamshabad at Aga Khan Academy was painted with these models much to the delight of people in nearby places. There were traditional kites from Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia. There were static kites,. There was fighting machine such as the Japanese Rokkaku and vast 40m high inflatable kites.
According to Akio Takeda and Shohachi Shiga, The Rokkaku dako is a traditional six-sided Japanese fighter kite. It is traditionally made with bamboo spars and washi paper. The Rokkaku kite is often hand painted with the face of a famous Samurai. The structure is a vertically stretched hexagon with a four-point bridle. The Rokkaku kite, in short often called as ‘Rok’, is the most copied Japanese kite in the West.
There were hundreds of kites in the sky, ranging from creative and combat categories to luminous ones. The Indian kites, stood out from the rest with their marked traditional appearance. The Karnataka Team flew the longest train kite which had 100 kites tied to the string in a row.
An 80-year-old Olekseii Zviryk from Ukrain and Wheel Chair Born Bongudala Narsing Rao, an avid kite flyer from Kohinoor Kite Flying Club, Hyderabad were star attraction Kevin Sanders from Australia was seen flying a Dragon Kite, which he prepared himself. The 58years old former IT System Administrator is now semi-retired. And dedicates his full time for kite flying. He travels all over the world. He participates in nearly 50 to 60 Kite Flying Festivals held all over the world, more so in Asian Countries. Kite was origniated in China and is very popular in Asian countries, he informed.
The Kite Festival is held in support of women’s empowerment through girl child education, Telangana Tourism and Incredible India come together with Aga Khan Academy, who have decided to stand by the wider social inclusion agenda by sharing the wonderful experience of international kite flying and the educational aspects of kites, flight dynamics and wind as a form of energy. 17 countries, 27 kite clubs, 75+ kite flyers from countries such as France, Indonesia, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Singapore, Australia, Scotland – UK, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Italy, Ukraine, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Poland are participating and flying their kites.
The Hyderabad version of the festival is concluded on Sunday evening. However, it will continue with festival at Yadagirigutta and Warangal on 16 and 17. (NSS)