Mangalorean kite-flyers have become a world favourite. They are getting invites from all parts of Europe and this time they are going to France to exhibit their very special kite ‘Pushpaka Vimana’ — a mythological flying machine used by gods and demons alike.
Team Mangalore, an avid kite-flyer group, is in fact, the only kite-flyer group to be recognised by international kite festival organisers.
Why then are Mangalorean kites a favourite of the West?“There is a reason for this, they are not only multicoloured, but also ethnically designed; their themes are derived from Indian mythology and folk traditions and they are quite big and come in various shapes,” saysthe chief organiser of the 2010 Dieppe International Kite festival at France, Sandrine Frebourg.
“While the European kite designers are more into kites designed on computers and produced by computer-aided cutting and stitching,
Mangalorean kites are hand-crafted, hand-painted and ethnically designed with human ingenuity, which
is what makes them international favourites,” says Frebourg.
In the past, Team Mangalore has flown over 10 kites in different international kite festivals, all of them designed on Indian folklore and mythology.
On the calendar of events, the Ville de Dieppe International Kite festival has been pegged as “one of the world’s 300 not-to-be-missed events”.
The team had earlier been to France, England, and Canada, winning the ‘Best International Kite’ award for its fabulous kite collection. The Kathakali kite found a place as the Largest Kite in India in the Limca Book of Records.
In March of this year the team participated in the Thailand International Kite festival and was recognised as the ‘Star Performer’ of the event.
In January 2010, the Team organised an International Kite festival in Mangalore with the support of MRPL and ONGC, which attracted a large number of tourists. Over the years, Team Mangalore has been instrumental in making Mangalore a preferred destination for kite flyers from across the world.
The kite-maker
Kite-maker Sarvesh Rao is the brain behind the production of the kites.
“Right from the procurement of material [nylon ripstop], the fibre skeletal materials and the appliqué work, my team-mates Dinesh Holla, Prashanth Kumar and Subhash Pai help me day and night. It takes not less than 60 to 75 days to produce a kite. All materials have to be imported. They are very expensive and we take extra care while cutting and stitching and fixing it on the chassis. Even a millimetre difference between the pressure points will make the kite to do the cha cha cha in the sky. Since all our kites are based on serious themes they have to majestically hover in the sky to maintain the dignity of the theme,” says Sarvesh.
Comments