The city of Jaipur lives a lifestyle that is of a fanfare of festivities and celebrations. Carved out of the desert, it is indeed a magical city that encloses within its walls beautiful architecture, color and charm. While everyone is telling you what to do when in Jaipur, here is the one Thing to do no one is telling you about.
Come winter, people engross in kite flying, loud music and food on their roof tops. However, this is a festivity that usually refers to ‘Makar Sankranti’, a kite flying festival that scientifically marks the beginning of warmer and longer days. While the festival itself is on January 14th, the kite flying season goes strong through November to February when the wind and the weather are ideal. 'Makar Sankranti', or the Sun’s Northward journey, is the day of this festival and it is only fair you spend it outdoors right under the benevolent Jaipur sun. With hundreds of kites and aerial wars fought over rooftops and cries of 'woh kaata', a tiny sliver of the Indian spirit resides in the 'patang' and kite flying is an absolute must during the season. Families crowd their rooftops to fly their kites and engage in animated, complex aerial wars, in keeping with the spirit of kite-flying on this day. The city celebrates kite flying with such enthusiasm that you’ll find it tough not to get a little tipsy with excitement yourself!
To see how one whole city can drop everything just to be able to tug at the 'manjha' (special thread used for kite flying) and cut their opponent’s kite, just climb on to the terrace and watch the war of the Kites for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you even know your adversary; that flying kite, sailing proudly in the windy sky is just asking for a skirmish. With the glory and charm of Jaipur in the backdrop join us for kite flying this season, come and fly a kite or battle it out in a kite war or just watch the kites flutter in the azure sky. Indulge in 'patang bazi' (kite flying in the local language), festival goodies, live music and the bright sun.
Tip: If you want to experience the local flavor walk around the local market that have specific shops specially decorated for the kite flying festivities flooded with color and thread where you can buy your own kite and even learn how to distinguish between the thread that has to be used for the same.
