Kites on the Kargil theme for Jammu festival

Kites on the Kargil theme for Jammu festival
S CHANDER SHARMA

JAMMU, APRIL 25: For the delight of Jammuites, Jammu skies will be full of man-made colourful bird-kites from April 27 to mark the beginning of the first-ever kite festival, here.

The festival will see masters of trade in action from Gujarat and other parts of the country with kites of various hues, sizes and designs in flight based on theme of Kargil, national integration besides many others. However, the unique feature will be the flight of 250 kites tied on a single chord by famous kite-flyer Rasool Bhai of Ahmedabad.

The festival organised by Jammu and Kashmir Kite Association (JKKA) is a step towards reviving the traditional art of kite flying. The jammu region has a rich past as far as the tradition goes the kite flying has been prevalent since ages.

Besides Rasool Bhai flying 250 kites in a single chord, another attraction of the festival will be kite flying by Pappu Bhai while many other kite flyers from other parts of the country will also display their kite flying in a unique way.

According to the president of JKKA, S S Bhalla, who is also director, state tourism, the festival is being organised to keep alive the tradition of kite flying in the city. Talking to The Indian Express, he said though the festival will not have any competition it will help revive the old tradition. He said that kites on Kargil theme besides the national integration will be an added attraction for Jammuites during the festival.

``There was a time when people would take keen interest in kite flying, here and in adjoining districts of the region and people irrespective of their age were seen flying kites in hot summer under scorching sun besides other seasons,'' Bhalla said further. But now the kite flying, here, has been confined to Rakshabandhan and Janmashtami festivals during monsoon only which is also the period of summer vacations for students, but this time it will bring some difference, he added.

Bhalla said there was a time when the city had a large number of kite dealers and manufacturers but only one or two manufacturers have remained now who are engaged in kite selling while others have changed their business due to poor response of the people.

Origin of kite flying is believed to have travelled from Japan to India via China, Hong Kong, Thailand and some other nations, said a local kite manufacturer, Romesh Chander. He said that in other states like Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana the tradition was very much alive with people taking great interest in kite flying.

However, in Jammu, the tradition was fading with every passing year which has forced the expert manufacturers to shift to other business, Romesh added.

Meanwhile, the festival is scheduled to be inaugurated by MoS for Food and Supplies, Ajay Sadhotra, who is also patron-in-chief of the JKKA, on April 27. Bhalla said the J&K Bank has agreed to partly sponsor the festival while sponsors for rest of the expenditure have yet to come forward.

However, in any case, the festival will be held, he said making appeal to the people to witness the unique festival.