The kite festival known as uttrayana is celebrated on 14 th january in Gujarat. The festival is very famous and it has become brand for Gujarat now.
When people fly kites on the top of the houses and agashis..The festival is also known as Makar sankranti day in Gujarat .People of all ages are flying kites rejoicing in the spirit of the day. The blue january sky is enlivened by kites of different colours and hues . Kiteflying day in Gujarat is an extraordinary day Specially Ahmedabad tops among all other places in celebration. Its special day for Ahmedabadis. Ahmedabad is also the venue for International kite festival. International kite festival is celebrated by the state and Tourism since last 20 years now.
The uttrayana or Makarsankrati is celebrated in India by Hindus more as a religious festival where people take bathe in a holy river like Ganga etc and pray to Sun God . In Gujarat it is celebrated with kiteflying sports. In fact kite flying festival is celebrated in various countries of the world at sea beach or in plain ground . Gujaratis celebrate mainly on the to p of their houses.Ay kata aiy kata is the song of the day , ... the tune is played whole day by kite lovers. Not only kite flying but kite cutting is more enjoyed here by the people.Delicious food is enjoyed to mark the day.
Kite flying is done in Japan,china
Kiteflying has a fascinating history. Man had the desire to fly since time immemorial. It was the spirit of man and his imagination that ultimately saw the invention of kites .
The fascinating history is depicted in the KITE Museum Of Ahmedabad .
History;
200BC Huan Thang flew a kite at night to overawe the army in China.
100 BC to 500 AD Kites were used by the army generals to send signals and to measure the distance of enemy camps.
930 AD :The earliest mention of shiroshi in Japanese literature where shi means paper and Roshi stands for the Chinese bird.
960 to 1126 AD :Flying kites became a popular activity of recreation in Chiana. People celebrated the 9 th day of the ninth month a day signifying the banishment of evil by flying kites.
1542 AD: For the first time the word patang finds mention in Indian literature . I t was used by Manzan in Madhumalti , where the flight of a kite is associated with the loved one by a poet.
1752 AD: Benjamin Franklin lofted a kite to prove that lighting was of the same electric matter as the one that generated electricity.
1870 AD: Australian inventor Lawrence Hargrave designed box kites whose stability inspired others to create power driven aeroplanes.
1896AD: Graham bell designed tetra by combining light weight sticks . He flew frost King .Kite of 256 cells and imrovised it to have 1300 and later 3393 cells.
1902 AD : Codys contemporary the Wright Brothers were successful in becoming airborne .Age of aviation begins.
This year in 2010 in International kitefestival held at Ahmedabad Sabarmati River front more than 225 kitists from all over the world participated in the festival..The festival was also held on 13 th january at porbandar the land of Gandhi and at surat..
