Hyderabad: The skyline of the city and its surroundings was flooded with kites with people of all age groups coming out in hordes in the open to celebrate the festival.
Makar Sankranti has been converted into an International Festival with the government opening the shores of Hussain Sagar for its celebration. KT Rama Rao, Minister of Municipal and Urban Development, opened the festival by flying a kite. Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rammohan Rao joined the minister to mark the onset of Makar Sankranti.
Meanwhile, people across the city filled the skyline with kites of different colours and sizes. For many of them only flying a kite, more popularly known as patang, is fun. But the majority believes in testing its flying skills and dominating the sky by cutting out other patangs in an undeclared war. Every time a patang’s flying life was cut off, the sky would be rented with shouts of kataa (meaning I have defeated my rival).
The festival is set to go on until late in the evening.