Yesterday I was in interior Lahore there I saw a very glorious kites those attracted a lot. In that very moment a thought jumped in my mind that who invented this beautiful joy so here is my minor attempt.
Kites: History
According to written references the motherland of this thing is Ancient China dated back to 200 BC but probably invented at much earlier times. The first use of kites was for signaling at a distance and in royal times people used kites to praise or raise the glory of their king. It also used in cringing from religious ceremonies. The earliest baby types of kites were built with wood and clothes. Paper kites were invented around 100 AD, till from that time its getting modern as now we have many kinds and shapes of kites.
Kite making soon spread from China to Japan, Korea and Myanmar where kite flying is still an important part of their culture. From there it spread to Sub-continent. It was called (Paala Uran) in Punjab. It is a festival celebrated before spring season.
An English writer, John Bate, has given the description of kite making in his book ‘Mysteries of Nature and Art’. His instructions are still used to make home made kites. European kites exist in variety of shapes but they all require tails for balancing and stability in the air. The innovation in kite design began to appear in late nineteenth century.
Kites were also used in meteorology as early eighteenth century when two university students attached thermometers to kites to study the temperature of atmosphere at altitude. It continued to be used till mid- twentieth century.
In present days, kite flying is one of the most likeliest sports and cultural event specially in Asian countries as Pakistani and Indians celebrate kite flying as a passionate festival every year.
