Colourful kites dot Rajkot skyline during international festival

The ongoing International Kite Flying Festival is drawing huge crowds here, including kite flyers and foreigners.

Colourful kites of different shapes and sizes dotted the skyline of the city as thrilled spectators were seen clicking pictures.

The international festival began on January 7 and will go on till January 14.

Over 130 kite-flying enthusiasts from 27 countries and various states of India are participating in the festival, which will be held in New Delhi, Mumbai and various parts of Gujarat.

"There is a huge crowd of kite flying enthusiasts not only from different parts of India but abroad also," said one of the organisers of the festival, Rajendra Kumar.

Meanwhile, it also drew foreign nationals who took part in the festival with pageantry.

"I am coming here because many of my Facebook friends, my kite friends recommend me to come and participate in this festival and I think it is a good place to fly kites and meet my kite friends," said a kite-flying enthusiast from Germany, Darrel.

The kite flying festival coincides with the Hindu festival of 'Makar Sankranti'. Meanwhile, kites with images of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and philosopher Swami Vivekananda were a hit among people.

Modi will inaugurate a special theme pavilion on Sunday at Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, where national and international kite masters will participate with great enthusiasm.

During the festival, people try to bring down each other's kites using string, coated with a sticky paste of ground-up glass or metal.

The popular festival also spelled magic for the tourism industry in the province, as many visitors from abroad as well as from India gathered at the venue.