An absolute matter of delight for Ahmedabad's kite flyers and kite enthusiasts alike, here's a Kite Museum that has made its way to one of the top tourist spots in the city today. The museum is a part of Sanskar Kendra, the cultural hub of Ahmedabad, which was designed by the seminal architect Le Corbusier in 1954.
Exhibiting a colourful collection of 125 vibrant kites, the 'Patang Kite Museum' in Ahmedabad offers a unique visual experience to its spectators, owing to the antiquities and souvenirs that hold significant cultural and historical value.
It was said that the concept of a Kite Museum was originated with Bhanu Shah donating his tremendous kite collection to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, which only expanded as the years went by and eventually embellished this museum.
Coming from various regions and in an array of hues, these magnificent kites incorporate mirror work kites, block print kites, and Japanese kites. Some kites have also been brought from Victoria and Albert Museum and some are as old as seven decades. A few of them exhibit faces of eminent personalities, while some have mythological figures drawn on them. For instance, one such object of interest displayed is a humongous 16 feet long kite that is famously engendered from 400 pieces of paper and features the Garba dance.
The place holds in its embrace, besides a varied collection of kites, materials employed in creating kites, their long history, attractive paintings and illustrations, and so on.
Kite flying is a tradition close to the roots of Indian soil where our childhoods have been graced with memories of soaring our kites high up in the air with family and friends. One such grand event marking this feeling is the International Kite Festival celebrated as Makar Sankranti annually in Gujarat. Attracting kite flyers from around the world during the glorious affair, the Kite Museum entices all the more traffic of curious visitors during the time.
A must-visit for all throughout the year though, this kite house shelters many lesser-known facts revolving around the history of kites of the country, and then some.
Location: Sankar Kender, Bhagtacharya Road, Kocharab, Paldi, Ahmedabad
Timings: 10 AM - 12 PM and 4 PM - 6 PM (closed on Mondays)
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