Bhavnagar

Festivals

International Kite festival
The International Kite Festival is celebrated in Ahmedabad on January 14 and coincides with the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. It is a joyous day, with a bright sun, clear skies and breezes strong enough to lift innumerable kites aloft. It is in fact a celebration to mark the end of winter, when the heat of summer is still to come.

Kites are flown all over Gujarat, and Ahmedabad and Baroda become cities of Kite-flyers. Kite flying starts at dawn and continues throughout the day. Friends, neighbors and total strangers battle one another for supremacy and cries of triumph rend the air when someone cuts the line of a rival. A variety of kites is seen and the connoisseur can choose precisely what he wants. Even the lines with which the kites are flown are specially prepared by the experts before the great day. All other work is forgotten and cares thrown to the wind.

Modhera Dance Festival
The ruins of 11th century Sun Temple at Modhera in North Gujarat are an impressive sight. It stands on a knoll in the village of Modhera, eighteen miles south of Anhilvad, the former Hindu capital of Gujarat. Modhera was evidently a site of great importance at one time. The style in which the temple was built bears a strong resemblance to that of the Jain temples at Mount Abu. The outer walls of temple are covered with sculptures in which figures of Lord Surya are naturally prominent. The idea that inspired the festival is to present classical dance forms in an atmosphere similar to that in which these were originally presented.

So successful was the presentation, that a decision was taken to make it an annual event. The dance festival is scheduled to be held during the third week of January every year, after the festival of Uttrayan.

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