The category being ‘Unidentified Flying Object’ this time around, the only Indian kite flyers’ group to be officially invited to partake is Team Mangalore.
French skies will be invaded by UFOs soon, as the annual kite festival at Ville de Dieppe (350km from Paris) is set to take place between September 11 and 19.
The category being ‘Unidentified Flying Object’ this time around, the only Indian kite flyers’ group to be officially invited to partake is Team Mangalore.
he team will fly ‘Pushpaka Vimana’, the legendary Indian flying machine used by Lord Indra (the king of the cosmic Gods) and other heavenly beings.
When asked if Pushpaka Vimana qualifies for the category — ‘Unidentified Flying Object’? Sarvesh Rao, Team Mangalore chief, replied with a chuckle, “Indian legends do speak of flying machines. It can’t be all nonsense. How could anybody even imagine a flying machine in that era? The Pushpaka Vimana must have been an UFO of that age and the earliest to be
mentioned in writing. Therefore, it does qualify for the category.”
Rao is optimistic that the team will dazzle the international kite flyers’ fraternity with their version of UFO. “It is square in shape, with tons of hand-made graphics in appliqué work and is very colourful.” Rao and his team got graphic artist Dinesh Holla to help them design the kite. And Holla gave DNA a sneak preview of the extravagant kite.
Their kite has been modelled after the Vedic UFO, which finds mention in Bhagavata, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Rao said, “Pushpaka Vimana has special significance to us, it is the only ethnic design of UFOs that will fly in the international festival, it will open up a new a new line of thought.”
Team Mangalore has flown its kites in different international kite festivals across Europe, where their creative designs have been appreciated by kite masters around the world.
They’ve stuck with an ethnic theme in the past three festivals that they’ve taken part in: Legendary figures such as Ganesha, Durga, visages of Indian folk and performing arts like Bhoota Kola, Yakshagana, Kathakali,” said Rao.
These kites have not only won them prizes but also a lot of appreciation from their fellow participants. “Most European kites are technologically perfect as they are computer designed and machine cut — therefore precise. But Indian kites stand out because of their ethnic design — perfect construction, despite having difficult designs,” Rao said.
The Ville de Dieppe kite festival will witness an Indian Panorama — Prashanth Kumar, a Yakshagana artist will perform there and graphic artist Holla will hold an on-the-spot sketch exhibition and demo for those at the festival. But, Rao is slightly concerned about the flying conditions. “The wind varies in velocity and direction and the flyer must keep an eye on the kites all the time, or else they’ll come crashing down,” said Rao.
Pushpaka Vimana, which is getting ready at Mangalore is being built in Ripstop nylon and fibre frame. It roughly weighs 2kg and is flown with Dacron line, which can hold high levels of wind velocity.
m_raghuram@dnaindia.net
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