A pretty, colourful thing usually made of paper, so light that it flies like a bird in the sky, gliding along as the wind blows, turning almost every adult into kid, as they tug the strings to keep them afloat in the air. As you guys have guessed by now, yes we are talking about kites, one of the creative inventions by man (well apart from selfie sticks, that has to be the next best thing everyone loves ;)).
As the legend goes kites came into existence about 2000 years ago, by a mere accident when a Chinese farmer from Shandong, the eastern most province of China tied down his hat with a string to keep it from flying by the wind. This sounds quite simple and not so complicated. But over the years kites have become quite popular all over the world and have been used for various purposes from entertainment, sending messages, fishing to furthermore extending towards aeronautics to military purpose.
Flying kites in India has gained a lot of historical significance and is an important part of celebrating certain festivals. In cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Hyderabad, people arrange Patang (kite) fight during the festival of Makar Sankrant, which is celebrated every year on 14th January marking the arrival of spring and end of winters. The sky is covered with thousands of beautiful kites and friends and families gather around in rooftops competing with each other in a playful way, sending the kites soaring in the air trying to cut through and pull down others kites. Everyone from kids to adults find a beautiful way to bond and play on this day spreading the excitement and happiness around.
Apart from this, many kite enthusiasts arrange Kite festivals on various occasions and we were lucky enough to attend one in our hometown, Mangalore. We have been reading about this Kite Festival conducted in one of the famous beaches in Mangalore for years but could never make it. Finally this year we managed to attend this festival, which was held last week (15th and 16th January) at the Panambur beach and it was absolutely fantastic. Participants from different countries like Cambodia, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Singapore and Kuwait flew down to Mangalore to take part in this festival and decorated the sky with their beautiful creations and amazed us all.

It was a perfect and pleasant evening at the pristine beach with the cool winter breeze blowing from the sea and sky filled with beautiful kites in different shapes, sizes and forms. As we walked around the venue we could spot varied characters from Superman, Charlie Chaplin to the character from local Tulu dance form Bhuthada Kola in the sky. It was exciting to watch so many different varieties of kites flying high in the sky as people gathered around in wonder and cheer their favorites. While some people engrossed themselves in the show, other visitors purchased their own kites from the street vendors and flew it.


Passing through the busy throng of people we searched for a perfect vantage point to watch the kite flyers in action and to know how they manage to keep them up floating in air. We stood there for a long time quite intrigued and fascinated with competitive yet friendly rapport among the participants, as they launched their kites and wooed the crowd.
The International Kite Festival in Mangalore has been held since the year 1998 and was arranged by the Rotary Club inviting kite enthusiastic from all over the world to take part and showcase their creations. With their motto as “one kite, one earth, one family”, the Mangalore Kite Festival has been successful in bringing out the awareness and passion for kite flying among locals.
Beautiful pics.
Thank you Arun:)
That is interesting . I didn’t know such an event takes place in Mangalore. Great pics.
Thank u Indrani. Yea the event isn’t well known unlike the other Kite festivals held around the country.
Awesome photos from Kite fest. Great post.
Thanks Rupam 🙂
Great clicks..this is something amazing which I have never heard of !! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Your welcome Kavita:)
So attractive!!
And look at the variety. Impressive! And it seems like quite an international event, too. Thank you Travelling sisters for this post and the pictures. 🙂
Yes, even we were quite surprised about the turn up. It wasn’t very grand, nevertheless a fantastic experience 🙂
What awesome pictures!
Thank u Archana 🙂
Wow! The kites are amazing! And so BIG! 🙂
Yea, there were some pretty huge kite 🙂
Great pictures, amazing kites! Thank you!
Thanks Anita 🙂
Really nice posts! Kites remind me so much of my trip to Bali. They seem to have kites up everywhere for no particular reason. At least not one anyone could explain to us!
Thank u Anne 🙂 Thats strange, maybe they were just flying it for fun.
Hi! We’re traveling sisters too 😀 Love all the colorful kites! Looks like an amazing time.
Hi girls 🙂 Its sooo great to know about other travelling sisters. Thank u for the comment. Keep the love coming, cheers and all the best 😀
Wow…nice captures. Sometime back we also covered the Gujarat Kite Festival, but was completely unaware of this event. Pride of India!!
Mangalore Kite Festival isn’t as well known as the Gujarat festival. Nevertheless its good to see so many kite enthusiasts trying to keep the sport alive!!
Colorful and beautiful your pictures leave me mesmerized!
Thank you Mridula 🙂
Soooo creative. Attending a kite festival is on my list last year but failed to do it. Your post reminded me that i need to do it this year!
Hahah we hope you do this year 🙂 Its amazing!!!
That festival looks fantastic! Beautiful photos. Must get to India soon!!
Thank u Amy. U must try and visit India sometime 🙂
This is awesome! Not sure I like the idea of trying to bring down other kites, BUT I’d love to witness something like this. Looks like people put a lot of thought into their kite designs. I especially love the octopus – so cute!!!
Yea, they are all so adorable.:) Theres so much creative thinking involved while making kites.
I love photo diaries, and this kite festival is adorable!
Thank u Lizzie, it was super fun 🙂
Hey kite flying is an amazing sport! Somehow it carries the essence of Indian-ness. And it makes the blue sky so much more colourful!
I’m glad to see a blog about it 🙂
Thank u Mukul, Kite flying is indeed a feel good sport and also pretty sight for sore eyes 🙂
What shapes and colors! The octopus is my absolute favorite! I can imagine how much fun my kids would have had if they happened to attend a festival like this 🙂
This festival is perfect for kids, we loved the flying octopus too 😉
So as the legend goes, a Chinese man tied his hat to keep it from flying which started kite-flying? That is so awesome and interesting. I love legends! 🙂
It must be amazing, to be there , to see all this beauty! I think you girls are very lucky!