World Travel & Tourism Council

Airborne again

Promoting a country's festivals is a great way to advertise the destination's culture and history, and Gujarat is doing just that with Makar Sakranti. By Anupama Sushil

The festival of Makar Sakranti or Uttarayan is among the most popular festivals in Gujarat and is marked by flying kites, family get-togethers and traditional food. The word 'Uttarayan' comes from joining two Sanskrit words 'uttar' meaning north and 'ayan' meaning movement. This 'movement towards north' is the day when the sun starts to travel northwards marking the oncoming summer season.

The festival has become so popular the entire city turns into a kite making area months in advance. All one can see on each street is people making kites, colouring the kite strings and kids buying out practice kites in a play of colour. Kites are made in various sizes - from miniatures to seven and even eight feet broad. Kite-making in Gujarat is indeed serious business.

The state capital of Ahmedabad sets itself apart in terms of the buzz and the activities on the day of 'Uttarayan'. The excitement and the energy is worth witnessing with the local markets flooded with people buying as many as 100 kites. The last night of Uttarayan is a festival in itself.

As the day dawns, all that one can see are kites in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes against the blue sky. This is accompanied by delicacies like undhiyun (vegetable mix), jalebi (sweets), til ladoo (sweets made of sesame seeds) and chikki. The excitement does not stop at night as it gives a chance to raise the paper lanterns called 'tukkals' tied to the kite-strings.

Aerodynamics of it all

To encourage this festival, Gujarat Tourism began hosting an International Kite Festival a few years ago. Organised over three days, the festival sees eminent kitists from many Indian states and foreign countries. Though the festival has been taking place for years, this year saw a competition for the best kite among all the international and national participants. The competition was a step of encouragement for the international kitists who came in from 25 different countries including Brazil, France, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, United States and Germany with more than 150 participants.

Kite-flying is a passion here and is a huge crowd-puller. This makes Gujarat the best place for kitists to be in on the day of Uttarayan. The kite-flying competition that was organised this year for the first time saw some amazing kites like hand-painted kites, humming kites and hand-stitched ones in various shapes and size. Kamlesh Patel, chairman of Tourism Corporation of Gujarat, said that the festival had helped Gujarat create an identity for itself and also resulted in the economic development of kite makers. He added that kites are also a popular and a more cost-effective way for corporate companies to do branding exercise.

According to a veteran kitist and a judge at the festival, Frenchman Ludovic Petit, with every passing year the festival is getting better in terms of awareness and organisation. He added that it is an excellent way to learn about local kite-making and the aesthetics involved in the entire process that are unique to each country, for instance, the 'Indian fighter kite' which is a simple yet powerful design. He added that such events can bring India to an international level, which will give India a real breakthrough.

Speaking on the financial gains from such a grand event, Skye Morrison, event co-ordinator and international kitist and educationist who closely works with the kite makers of Ahmedabad, says that there are about 5,000 people in this unorganised sector. "Its business for them and it should therefore be mandatory for them to get all the benefits they deserve," he says.

The good news is that the government is looking at another kite festival next year and hopes to get in more participants. Meanwhile, Morrison hopes for an economic parity for the kite-makers. And although the festival might take a commercial bend, it is also essential to preserve its essence.