With the festival of Sankranthi fast approaching, it’s time to pick the good Hyderabadi kite and related accessories and start the kite wars once again. It’s very common in Hyderabad to see the sky with colorful kites even a week ahead of the festival. Native Hyderbadis will not miss the time no matter how busy they are. They get their kites and kite reels (charak) ready and climb their roofs at least once to experience the thrill of cutting others’ kites or losing their kites to the opponents.
While the kite flying is usually observed during the day, some parts of the city fly kites at night. With halogen lights pointing towards the sky across entire neighborhood which light up the sky, people kites late in the night.
In Begum Bazaar, people fly sky/paper lanterns: specially designed kites that glow in the sky, The are popularly known as tukkals. They fly the kites from the roof of their houses.
There is another way people fly kites at night. For example, residents of Banjara hills use halogen-lights to light up the sky and fly kites as part of Sankranthi celebrations. People in this locality have been celebrating night kite festival for the past two years. Most roofs/terraces in Banjara hills, road no 12, become open air party venues with the residents turning into professional kite fliers and ardent supporters of the night kite fight. The screams and shouts are as usual.
With an intention to turn the event into a complete fun filled event, the organizers will also arrange music, engage DJs, organize food and also arrange lazer lights to make the event brighter. However, the entry is strictly restricted to the residents, their family and friends.
The light night kite flying is more exciting than the day event. The sky is clearer at night because there are fewer kites, and thus there are less obstacles to fly your kites. The sky is colorful with numerous kites flying: the spectacle worth watching.
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