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The international kite festival ‘Uttarayan’ is held annually in January in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat, India.
The kite festival began in 1989 to mark the beginning of summers, according to the Indian Calendar.
Kite shapes range from footballs, dolphins, tigers, mermaids, pandas, horses to even rubik's cube.
Have you ever seen flying kites in different shapes like footballs,dolphins, tigers, mermaids, pandas, horses or even a rubik’s cube? Over the next eight days, the Gujarat sky will full of these floating shapes as the ‘Uttarayan’ festival is underway.
This is the 30th edition of the international kite flying festival, which brings together 128,000 kite makers from the western state in India as well as thousands of enthusiasts both from within and outside the country.
‘Uttarayan’ is the International kite festival that is held annually in January to mark the beginning of summers, according to the Hindu calendar.
This year, the festival began on 6 January and will last till 13 January.
First organised in 1989, the festival brings together master kite makers and flyers from across the world.
This year 45 countries, including United States, United Kingdom, China, and Nepal are participating in the event.
Over the course of the past few years, master kite makers have introduced their regional kite designs in the festival including Wau-Balang kites from Malaysia, llayang-llayanghave from Indonesia.
Here are some flying dragons from China …
Approximately, 151 international kite-fliers along with 105 kite fliers from 13 other Indian states are participating in the kite festival
Ahmedabad preps months before the festival begins. Some artists even create kites with springy bamboo frames
There is even a special kite market that remains open 24 hours, a week before the festival
Nearly 128,000 people are employed in Gujarat’s kite industry -- making it one of the biggest industries in India.