Soaring high
Every year, Gujarat celebrates more than 200 festivals. The International Kite Festival (Uttarayan) is seen as one of the biggest and takes place in January. Since 1989, the city of Ahmedabad has hosted the festival as part of the official celebration of Uttarayan, bringing master kite makers and flyers from all over the world to demonstrate their unique creations and wow the crowds with highly unusual kites. The festival of Uttarayan marks the end of winter and the beginning of summer, according to the Indian calendar. It is a sign to farmers that the sun is back and that the harvest season is approaching. This day is considered to be one of the most important days in India.
This year marked 30 years of the festival. Take a look at some of the kites that took flight.
In each of these images, move the slider from right to left and see the the colourful kites that soared across the skies this past Uttarayan.
