Forget blue, it's colourful skies in Belagavi!

Belagavi: They not only filled the skies of Belagavi with colour, but also made a political statement, besides carrying a special message of peace to the world. These flying ambassadors were mammoth kites flown by world-famous flyers.

While each was unique and colourful, one resembling a dragon, another a flock of birds, still  another a group of dolls, and one even Trump-Modi,  the kite that caught everyone’s eye carried a mega photo of naval officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani court.  Flown by kite enthusiast, V Krishnaji Rao of Bengaluru, it also carried a special message to Pakistan, “We appeal to Pakistan. Please release Kulbhushan Jadhav.''

As the kite fluttered at a distance of 100 meters from the ground amidst a host of others, the photograph of Jadhav was clearly visible to the watching people on the ground.  Said Mr .Rao, “My objective of flying this kite is to send a message to Pakistan and Jadhav that the entire country is with him. It's an effort to convey a message to Pakistan to take our appeal for release of Jadhav seriously.'' The square-shaped Kulbhushan kite has stolen the limelight at several international kite festivals  over the last few months.

The first kite that Mr Rao flew in 1988 had a photograph of the late South-African President, Nelson Mandela and carried a peace message to the world. The mammoth Mandela kite was popular in most kite festivals in the country. Mr Rao has also flown a 26 ft tall kite to promote yoga  in different parts of the country. The event attracted over 80,000 viewers on youtube, he reveals.

Interestingly, he has trained around 500 kite-flyers from Karnataka over the past few years and most of them are flying kites with strong messages to the world today.

Also showcasing their elephantine message -spouting kites at the event were flyers from Australia, Switzerland, Canada, USA, Turkey, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Estonia and Russia.