Mangalore: City in High Spirits as International Kite Festival Begins
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Jan 21: It was a perfect day for kite flying, with both weather and wind assisting the enthusiastic flyers who had assembled in large numbers at Panambur beach here on Saturday January 21 to witness the start of the International Kite Festival.
City police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, ONGC director (technical) P P Upadhyaya, and Karnataka Bank managing director P Jayaram Bhat graced the opening ceremony of the kite festival, based on the theme ‘One sky, one earth, one family'.
Kites like Yaksha, Kathakali, Bhoota Kola, Gajaraja and Pushpaka Vimana by Team Mangalore which have won them accolades at international kite festivals around the world, were the centre of attraction at Panambur too. The new 'Avatar Bird Kite' also delighted the crowd. Around 17 international kite flyers from seven nations participated.
Speaking to Daijiworld, Raymond from Netherlands said that kite-flying was his childhood hobby and during his vacation in Fuerteventura island in Spain he found a new love for the activity. He has visited India 12 times to take part in kite festivals and this is his fourth visit to Mangalore. He got in touch with Team Mangalore during the Ahmedabad kite festival. Lauding the systematic way in which Panambur Kite festival has been organised, he said it gives him immense pleasure to fly kites apart from fulfilling his duty as quality control manager at a fruit store.
Another participant, Ugrasena Narendra from Indonesia, who was flying ‘Kites for God’ said that though he had six children he felt young when flying kites. Working for Maharani Group of Hotels, he said he has visited 88 countries to fly kites, including Europe and United States.
Marcos from France who has formed a ‘Manja Club’ said he has been flying kites for 30 years. He visited India 20 years ago and is in Mangalore for the first time. He said he was heartened by the rousing response of the people who turned up in big numbers to watch kite festival. He is accompanied by his friend Herzob who also shares similar enthusiasm for kite flying. Likewise, Otto Vossen, an enthusiastic kite flyer who was flying a circle-shaped kite called ‘Circle Flex’, said that he made the kite himself, using sewing machine to stitch pieces of clothes in a circular form. "Ultimately, it is the spirit of flying kites that matters and not winning or losing," he said.
The public participation in the kite festival overwhelmed the organizers. The clear blue sky above the mild waves of the Arabian Sea at Panambur beach was decorated by thousands of kites as the first day of the festival organized by Team Mangalore brought every enthusiastic kite flyer together.