A decade ago, all we needed to keep us occupied on a windy   evening was a few sheets of newspaper, a long roll of twine and some glue. Today, our encounters with kites are limited to the sight of one stuck on a tree somewhere. But for a select few, kite flying continues to be a passion.

Sunny Saxena has been flying kites since the early 1990s, in his hometown – Baroda, Gujarat. It is one of the most popular states for the sport in India. Initially, the ritual of flying kites was a part of Makar Sankranti, a Hindu festival as a tradition to celebrate harvest season and an oblation to the sun.

Today, India is home to some of the world’s most fascinating International Kite Flying festivals, generally held in January. “It is not just about kite flying. I absolutely enjoy the sport built wherein you cut each other’s kite. It is very competitive and requires very good skills,” Sunny says.

Currently, the International Kite Festival held in Ahmedabad and Kutch and other parts of the state, attract visitors from all over the world. This year, the kite festival will be held over three days on the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat. More cities are now planning their own kite festivals. JCI Garden City Bangalore organised one of the first kite flying festivals in 2010 in Bangalore. The event, which saw participants from Holland and France among others, was billed as South India’s largest  kite festival. There are over a hundred people participating in the International Kite Festival, but they gather over 15,000 viewers.

Most serious enthusiasts prefer building their own kites to gain an edge. As Paavan Solanki, President of the Royal Kite Club in Ahmedabad says, it takes more than just a passion to become an international kite flyer. “You need to know the different designs from all over the world, how to create the measurements efficiently for the kite to fly. And then, of course, how to fly the kite,” he adds. Some of the smaller kites can be as big as six to eight feet and requires more than one person to handle it and keep it in the air. Some of these can go to 50 feet wide. Designing these kites and building them can take several months. We spend at least R3,000 to 7,000 on each kite, depending on the size, and each kite takes more than a month to build,” says Paavan.

Kite Building involves several complicated steps. First you need to fix on a design, depending on the style and genre the kite would be displayed in. There are about four types of basic designs, depending on the region and style. Miniature kites, which are smaller than 18 inches are fast gaining popularity in India. The impressive fighter kites are made with special dimensions, while the foreign kites and printed kites are the current rage.

Some of the biggest kites come from New Zealand by Peter Lynn, who holds a Guinness Book of World Record for the construction of the world’s largest kite. Kites from his company start at about R2.5 or 3 lakhs each and could be as big as 50 feet. But for people who are not interested in competing or displaying their art in such international events, there are master craftsmen who teach you to build a basic but pretty kite, or you can simply pick one off the shelf for as less as R50 or as high as R5,000.

These kites, however, might not withstand the battle of kites. The most exciting part of the Kite Festival is the kite fights. It is a separate event where each team tries to cut the twine of the opponent’s kite. These ‘fighter kites’ are generally smaller, and involves much skill in handling the kite, as well as the method in which the twine is prepared.

Lately, kite-flying has come in for some flack because of the razor sharp quality of glass-coated manja. Many kite lovers use cotton manja instead so as to minimise the harm caused to birds during the kite-flying season. Chinese string available in the market although banned is still sold because of the trophy nature of kite-wars between rival groups. “Razor manja is banned in several countries, but kite flying all depends on your skill,” says Paavan.

January will see the horizon dotted with many more such colourful kites as the season of International Kite Festivals begins. “It would be a wonderful experience to participate in the kite fest… like reliving my memories of childhood. I would really like to see hundreds of kites in the skies in one place,” says  Roshan Mohan, an avid kite festival fan.

History of Kite Flying

200 BC: Huein Tsang flew a kite at night to overwhelm the army of Liu Pang of Han dynasty in China

100 BC to 500 AD: Army generals used kites to send signals and gauge the distance of enemy camps

1542 AD: Patang found mention in Indian literature for the first time in Manzan in Madhumalti

1752 AD: Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a lightening storm to prove it was of the same electric matter that generated electricity

1870 AD: Australian inventor Lawrence Hargrave designed box-kites whose stability inspired others to create power driven aeroplanes

1896 AD: Alexander Graham Bell designed the tetrahedral kite – Frost King. During the same time, Samuel Cody, pioneer of manned flights carried out experiments with manned di-plane gliders