Hyderabad: Cartoons, gods dot city skyline in form of kites

Hyderabad: A slew of kites in different designs, many of them never seen before in the city, drew thousands of people to Parade Ground for the three-day international kite and sweetmeat festival that started on Sunday.

Inagurating the fest, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said, “Kite flying is one of the 64 arts that we have and it should be encouraged.”

Experts in kite flying from Columbia, Cambodia, Italy, Singapore, China, South Korea and Indonesia among other countries wowed the spectators with their kites. The kites ranged from one inch to 250 feet, and the shapes varied from teddy bears  to dragons to octopuses.

Experts had kites with their local currency flying and others had famous cartoons up in the air. Mr Tin Ton from Indonesia and his wife, who participated in the kite fest here for the first time, said, “Our kites feature the art belonging to a tribe from the Papua islands.”

The second international sweet festival appeared to be even more popular. Families from other states, and some from abroad, prepared and sold sweetmeats from their homeland. The Turkish baklava cake made of seven layers was a special attraction.

Ms Rama Lakshmi of Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh had prepared hand-made pootharekhulu and peechu mithai. She felt the festival gave them a good chance to present their cooking skills.

After dusk fell, Chief Secreary S.K. Joshi inaugurated the night kite festival that lasted till about 11 pm.

The GHMC set up Swachh Survekshan stall at the event to promote Swachh activities. Secunderabad zonal commissioner C.N. Raghu Prasad said the stall had been established to promote the importance of citizen feedback during the ongoing Swachh Survekshan survey, besides highlighting the ill-effects of plastic use and the benefits of twin bins system.

Mr Prasad said the city had lost some places in last year’s rankings because of reduced citizen feedback. He said emphasis will be laid on citizen feedback, sanitation, plastic ban and cleanliness in public toilets.

Elsewhere, Mr Venkaiah Naidu called for a cultural renaissance and asked people to practice traditional customs and traditions, practice yoga and maintain a healthy diet for a healthy nation. He was speaking at an event to mark the second anniversary celebrations of Swarna Bharati Trust. 

Mr Naidu said, “We must return to our time-tested Indian customs and traditions and abandon western oriented lifestyles. We must return to our simple but effective ways of living. Ancient Indian art of yoga creates fusion of healthy mind and body. We must protect  our mother tongue and also promote it.”

Among those who attended the event were Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, Congress leader Konda Visweswara Reddy and legislator K. Srinivas.