Hyderabad: From the traditional patang to Thailand’s Octopus kite, over 120 varieties were part of Telangana’s first International Kite Festival that brought together 33 flying experts from across the globe.
The kites ranged from a model as small as one inch to the 205 metre Indian fighter kite and had fancy names like Lobster, Whistle, Delta, cobra. The show included sports and stunt kites.
The 100-acre ground of the Aga Khan Academy looked colourful with hundreds of kites flying high and the wind was very cooperative.
Hyderabad’s only 12-member group — Kohinoor Kite Club — represented the city, and there were participants from Mumbai, Rajkot and Nagpur. All the experts had made their own kites. On day one, over 1,500 people attended the first-ever kite festival in the new state.
Pavan Solanki, founder of Royal Kites Club, Gujarat, said, “To be termed a kite expert, one has to know how to design and make kites, understand the winds, string strength and how to manage the kite. A kite’s flight directly depends on the wind situation. Some kites automatically fly in case of heavy wind. Above all the person needs to be passionate about the sport.”
Mr Solanki had made an 80-feet kite in the form of a cobra, apart from sports and stunt kites.
Another flying expert, Gulab Chand Jangid from Nagpur, who was awarded for flying the 205-metre Indian fighter kite said, “The wind support was good and we could manage to fly all the kites we had brought. Towards the afternoon it turned sunny and after 4 pm it turned windy again. Flying entirely depends on the wind direction.”
K. Srinivas of Kohinoor Kite Club said, “For the festival we made a kite on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, global warming, a model ship and a 3D cord kite. We want to spread awareness on clean and green through this festival. We have made 250 kites in a train form which is a tribute to Indian soldiers.”
