Photos: Colourful kites brighten up skies across the country

Kite festival kitemaker displays his kites with an image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pic/AFP

With Makar Sankranti and Lohri around the corner, the kite festival fever has gripped the country. Kite makers in Mumbai are stocking up with all kinds of kites and accessories. Various festivals and competitions that celebrate kite flying are being conducted across the country.

Kite maker displays miniature kites and a spool in Mumbai. Pic/AFP

Makar Sankranti falls on January 14, 2018, and is marked by devotees praying to the Sun God. While the festival is celebrated under various names across the states of India, the common thread that marks all the festivities is the kite festival.

Enthusiasts flying kites in the shapes of a cobra. Pic/AFP

To mark the occasion an International Kite Festival was held in Surat on Wednesday. Hundreds of men, women and children joined in the celebrations.

An Indian shopkeeper hangs kites for sale outside his shop in Amritsar on January 10, 2018

The demand for kites is also rising ahead of the Lohri harvest festival, which falls on January 13, and is marked in northern India with celebrations involving the flying and battling of kites. Lohri is an annual Thanksgiving day and popular harvest festival.

An Indian worker prepares coloured kite strings at the roadside. Pic/AFP

There are, however, rising concerns about the use of sharp kite-flying strings called, manjha. The strings have an adverse impact on the environment and responsible for numerous injuries to the bird population. Manjha is often coated with glass, metal, or other sharp objects, and is made of synthetic material such as nylon.

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