The Pink City Celebrates Kite Festival

The international kite festival is held in the city of Jaipur. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. Jaipur has earned the name ‘the pink city’ owing to its majorly pink schemed architectural monuments, palaces and forts throughout the city. It is also ranked among the world heritage sites under UNESCO.

The festival is a depiction of joy and color. The international kite festival is one of the most visited and celebrated events of Rajasthan. On the day of Makar Sakranti, this festival is celebrated every year. It falls in the month of January and is a three-day celebration from the 14th till the 16th of that month. It is such a popular festival that it is attended by people from all around the world. During the festival, the sky is filled with different colored kites with not a spot in the sky left devoid of kites.

The festival is divided into two parts. There is a kite flying competition held, and then there is also the friendly kite flying scheduled after. The festival is generally inaugurated in the Jaipur polo ground and also, when the festival ends which is the last day of the festival, a prize distribution ceremony is also held at the Umaid Bhawan Palace.

The festival is organized by the government of Jaipur so that the kite lovers from all over the world can join in on this auspicious day of celebrations. This is why kite flyers from every nook and cranny of the country and the world all attend this festival to have a glimpse of the cultural heritage of the place and also be a part of something grander.

The kite-flying festival is associated with Makar Sankranti. It is believed that according to the Hindu calendar, this festival marks the end of the winter solstice as the sun transits into the ‘Makara’ which Is the Capricorn. It is said that the festival is celebrated so that people can reap the benefits of the sun. during the winter season our body gets infected and we also often fall sick therefore when the sun transits into Uttarayana marking the end of the winter solstice the rays of the sun acts as medicine for our body which is why we expose our bodies in the sun the entire day so that it eradicates all the infections of insanitation in our body, such as the belief regarding this festival.

A sky filled with several colors ranging from blue to red to white to all the colors in the color scheme is a magnificent sight to behold. Not just that, people from different age groups, be it young or old, come together and fly kites throughout the day indulging in the festival with various sweets and the grand feasts that are made especially on the day of the festival.