No bustle of customers in purchasing Dashain Kites (Photo Feature)

Kathmandu: People believe that the tradition of flying kites started in China. The trend entered Nepal centuries ago.

A few decades ago, the sky used to be full of colorful kites approaching Dashain. Youths used to enjoy flying kites along with children in Dashain.

Vijaya Deula, who has been trading kites for 3 generations at Tyagal, Lalitpur said, ‘The business of kites is not the same as it was a decade ago, the attraction towards flying kites is decreasing due to the replacement of smartphones.’

Based on the materials used in kites ( viz. plastic, paper, and cloths), the price of kites varies from  25-4000 rupees. Whereas, the price of the kite roller (Lattai) varies between 600 and 3000 rupees in the market.

The price of threads varies as per the quality. Most of the kites are imported from India, China, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Mostly the threads are imported from India, whereas roller (Lattai) is made in Nepal.

(Glimpse of kites in shop)

(Photo Courtesy: Saroj Basnet)

Nepali version of the photo story