Wednesday, January 7, 2009

AMRITSAR di 'Lohri'

KITE strings readied for "Lohri" Festival
BY RASHMI TALWAR

Ahead of the INDIAN LOHRI Festival an Indian worker rolls colored kite strings in a ball, at a roadside in AMRITSAR . LOHRI —a festival celebrated especially in North India announces the arrival of SPRING season and the end of WINTER which falls on January 13 every year, and is marked by KITE FLYING festival using the string or 'DOR' . The string is given extraordinary bite using eggs , crushed glass, starch to painstakingly prepare it prior to the festival on massive orders placed by keen kite flyers in this border city neighboring PAKISTAN . Many of the keen kite flyers use rubber gloves or rubber finger covers to avoid cuts using this string during kite flying , although some are known to flaunt their bleeding fingers to show off their finesse and keenness in flying kites using this "CUT-ICE STRING" during fierce kite battles that is joined by rejoicers and teams from rival camps in keenly contested matches. A "REPLICA" of the kite flying CRAZE can be seen about 60 Kms from the city of Amritsar in the neighbouring city of LAHORE in Pakistan. Although Mullahs and hardliners in Pakistan influence the governments of the Theocratic state to ban kite flying as it is synonymous with HINDU festivities, people of Lahore hardly pay any attention to the bans and kite flying has emerged as the most celebrated festivities in whole of Lahore during the Basant Festival which also has its origin amongst HINDUS and SIKHS of India

1 comment:

  1. I love the kite festival too...
    we call it Uttrayan...
    what abt the fireplace at night.....???
    Thats one more hightlight of lohri....

    hope u had a gr8 time.....:)

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