Top 7 Places to Celebrate Kite Festival 2017 in Jaipur

Makar Sankranti, widely known as the Kite Festival or the International Kite Festival is a highly awaited annual event in Jaipur. The skies of Jaipur make for quite a sight when hundreds of dancing kites of various shapes, sizes and colours dot the skies. Lots of tourists both local and foreign reach Jaipur for being a part of the wonderful festival every year on 14th January.

This year’s Sankranti is more special due to its collision with the weekend. Ask any Jaipurite and they would agree. Plan the coming weekend in Jaipur to enjoy the city’s famous Kite Festival 2017 on 14th January. Watch out the top 5 places to celebrate Kite Festival in Jaipur 2017.

1. City Palace Jaipur

City Palace Jaipur is hosting a 3-day Kite Festival in Jaipur, starting from Thursday, 12th January to Saturday, 14th January, which is one of the best places for a wonderful Makar Sankranti celebration in Jaipur. The International Kite Festival Jaipur 2017 at City palace was inaugurated on 12thJanuary by HH Padmanabh Singh at 10:45 a.m. This festival is organized annually at the roof of Sarvatobhadra Chowk in City Palace to promote the festival and aware both foreign and local visitors of the Indian culture and society.

Tourists will not only get a chance to enjoy kite flying but will also get to participate in a lot of fun competitions during the Kite Festival 2017. They will be offered traditional Makar Sankranti specialties like ‘dal ke pakode’ and ‘til ke laddoo’. Rajasthani folk singers will sing traditional Rajasthani songs. The visitors will also get a chance to see the exhibited kites and charkis belonging to the time of Sawai Ram Singh II (1835-1880 AD).

Days: 12th-14th January 2017

Venue: Sarvatobhadra Chowk, City Palace, Jaleb Chowk, Near Jantar Mantar, Tripolia Bazaar, Jaipur - 302002

Image credit: Gunijankhana: Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh Jaipur Museum Society
Tukkal (Kite) & Charkhies of Maharajs Sawai Ram Singh II (1835 - 1880 A.D)

2. Jal Mahal ki Pal

The Rajasthan Tourism Department is organizing Jaipur kite Festival 2017 at Jal Mahal ki Pal on Amer Road, Jaipur. The kite festival program would include an exhibition of kites along with an engaging demonstration of fancy kite flying. Post that, all flyers and even first-time flyers can indulge into kite flying competition. Folk artists will present cultural performances for the entertainment of tourists. Traditional Sankranti cuisines will also be served for free. Other special attractions of this Kite Festival event in Jaipur include free kites and free camel cart ride for tourists.

Several international kite flyers from US, Canada, Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are likely to showcase their beautifully designed kites and their unparalleled kite flying skills. Kite flyers from across India will also bring their colourful creations to fill the skies of Jaipur.

When: 14th January 2017

Time: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Venue: Jal Mahal ki Pal, Amer Road, Jaipur

3. The Walled City

Do you have a friend living in the walled city area of Jaipur? Then this is time to catch up with them. Because the city’s best kite flying takes place within the area of the walled city. Almost every other roof in the city area has kite flying enthusiasts busy in flying their kites higher and higher from dawn to dusk and fighting with other kites in the sky. It is quite an experience to be there on one of the roofs, enjoy homemade hot crispy pakoras along with the enthusiastic kite flying activities. Some rooftops also have huge speaker setups playing music to add to the mood.

Once the sun sets, the night festivities begin, where people fly lanterns and yellow kites but the Kite Festival fun seldom sets when you are in the city area of Jaipur.

When: The entire weekend, 13th to 15th January 2017

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Jaipur Achievers: Amit Singh Shekhawat becomes Doctor Nuclear Medicine at PGI Chandigarh

Amit Singh Shekhawat of Jaipur, who was the Medical Officer at CHC Maharoli Sikar, has now joined at PGI Chandigarh as a Resident Doctor in Nuclear Medicine. He has just joined at PGI Chandigarh this 1st January and made Jaipur proud of his achievement.

Dr. Shekhawat actually hails from Divrala, which is a small village in Madhopur, Sikar, in Rajasthan and is remembered for its much heated Divrala Sati Kaand. Though his village is located about 71 km away from the Jaipur city but Amit Singh Shekhawat has always remained close to Jaipur.

Dr. Shekhawat was brought up in the Jaipur city. He did his schooling from Maheshwari High School (MHS) Jaipur and then he did his MBBS from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College (MGMC), which is again in Jaipur.

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Makar Sakranti: The Kite Festival

Jaipur is the land of various fairs and festivals. Always immersed in colours of vibrant festivals, this place attracts everyone who wants to experience the real beauty and charm of Indian festivals. Festivals of each religion are enjoyed with equal enthusiasm and enjoyment. Every festival has its significance, be it greeting a season, praising the Lord, desiring for good health and long life of spouse, worshipping trees and animals in the form of God or anything. Such festivals are an essential part of the lives of people in Jaipur and they give you a broader insight into the traditions of Rajasthan.

How is Kite Festival Celebrated?

One of the most famous festivals of Rajasthan is the Makar Sankranti or Kite Festival. Definitely, it is a festival which is exclusive in its own way. Multi-coloured kites flying across the sky make it look brighter and colourful. This festival is mostly celebrated in Jaipur and Jodhpur. The lanterns or kites-with-lights flown at night make the festival more beautiful. If anyone likes kite flying, this festival is definitely for them. You should visit Jaipur in January to have a delightful experience of this colourful festival. During this time of the year, the sky looks apparent and the breeze is pleasing, together creating an ecstatic atmosphere. On the auspicious time of Makar Sankranti, bathing in Haridwar, Kashi and other religious sites hold great importance.

Importance of Makar Sakranti or Kite Festival

Kite festival of Jaipur is also known as Uttarayan. It is celebrated on the 14th of January every year. This festival celebrates the transition of the sun from zodiac sign Sagittarius (dhanu rashi) to zodiac Capricorn (makar rashi). This day is regarded as an auspicious one since it is believed that Uttarayan or the northward journey of the sun starts on the day of Makar Sankranti. Kites of all shapes and sizes can be observed in the sky and people or groups compete to cut the strings of their nearby kite flyers so as to bring their competitors' kites down. For this objective, people make their strings as sharp as possible, to give strong competition to their rival flyers. The extraordinary kite strings are covered with combination of glass and glue known as 'manjha'.

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Smart Jaipur App, an initiative by JDA under the Smart City Jaipur Project

Smart Jaipur mobile app has been developed by Jaipur JDA for the ease of the citizens of Jaipur under the smart city Jaipur project. The application intends to provide Jaipurites a channel to discover Jaipur, access all Jaipur smart city solutions and connect with the government.

Search for Information

This mobile application built under the Lighthouse initiative allows users to search for information about Jaipur, such as information about tourist places, where to shop, eateries, hotels to stay in the city, cab services, metro, flights and train delays, and any other Jaipur smart city news. The Smart Jaipur app also provides all the important contact numbers that you might need while in Jaipur and a list of things to do in the pink city including the ongoing or upcoming events.

Look for Government Services

Along with this, the Smart Jaipur city app also gives the option to seek various government services like Schemes and Allottees, Online Tender Participation, Property Auction, Booking Community Center and other Citizen Services.

Register complaints

You can also use the Smart Jaipur app to register complaints directly to JDA and check the status of your raised complaints anytime. Lodge complaints about potholes on road, broken footpaths, overflowing garbage bins and more.

Get Access to all Smart City Solutions

Get access to all Jaipur smart city solutions to know stuff like real-time parking availability, working status of smart lights, fire, ambulance, blood banks, and status of smart waste bins placed in different parts of Jaipur.Read More

Jaipur Polo Team Royal Gems and Arts Wins SMS Gold Vase Cup

Jaipur Polo Season had started in Jaipur on 2nd January 2017. Polo players competed in the first tournament of this polo season in Jaipur, for the SMS Gold Vase Cup from 2nd to 8th January 2017.

Despite all efforts and a fantabulous game by Sameer Suhag, the +5 polo player, Carysil Cowboys Mumbai lost the SMS Gold Vase Cup to Jaipur polo team Royal Gems and Arts by 6-5. Jaipur polo team won the 8-goal SMS Gold Vase Cup with Matthew Perry taking 3 goals, Angad Kalaan 2 and HH Padmanabh Singh 1 goal.

Image credit: Rajkumar Singh (@rkpolophoto)

Jaipur’s HH Padmanabh Singh, also known as Pacho Singh, has made a formidable team with Angad Kalaan, Matthew Perry and Karthikeyan for Jaipur Royal Gems and Arts to win the SMS Gold Vase trophy.

From the other team, Carysil Cowboys, +5 polo player Sameer Suhag took 4 goals while Shyam Mehta took 1 goal.

Image credit: Rajkumar Singh (@rkpolophoto)

In the first tournament of Jaipur Polo Season 2017, a total of 10 matches were played where polo players succeeded in getting 110 goals in total.

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10th Zee Jaipur Literature Festival – Where Literature Meets the World

19 Jan – 23 Jan 2017

Touted as the ‘Kumbh of Literature’, the greatest literary show on earth turns 10 this January. This year the world’s biggest literary conclave expects to host more than 300 speakers (including but not limited to authors, musicians, pop stars, dancers, and journalists) and more than 2500 delegates from all across the world. The best ever 10th Zee JLF will witness some of the big names from the literature, movie, and arts industry from across the globe discussing, debating, and celebrating the ideas to enrich the experience and creativity.

Image Source – Festival Website

What is in store this year?

With an amazing line-up of speakers from across the world, this year’s Jaipur Literature Festival will celebrate the 70 years of Indian Independence. The six major themes of the festival include:

1. Freedom To Dream – India @ 70

2. Colonialism And The Legacy Of Raj

3. Translation And World Literature

4. Sanskrit

5. The Magna Carta

6. The Women And The Marginalised Voices

10th Jaipur Literature Festival Curtain Raiser at Hotel Taj, New Delhi

From left to right: William Dalrymple (Festival Director), Namita Gokhale (Festival Director), Sanjoy Roy (Festival Producer), Sunil Buch (CBO, Zee Entertainment), Satyajeet Krishnan (General Manager, Taj Mahal Hotel)

For the very first time in the history of Jaipur Literature Festival and perhaps India, the facsimiles of ‘The 1215 Magna Carta’ are coming all the way from British Library to Jaipur. The facsimiles will be displayed all across the festival hub – Hotel Diggi Palace.

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Rajasthan Government Policies for General Public

Vasundhara Government: Creating “Digital Rajasthan”

Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream “Digital India” has given a new colour to the policy formation of various states as well. In Rajasthan, Vasundhara Government is formulating the policies to bring more and more digitalization in the operations. If we look at all the recent policies that have been formulated by Vasundhara Government, we shall find that emphasis is given on making most of the operations online which shall not only save time but shall eradicate corruption to a certain level. Today, we bring to you some of the recent policies of Vasundhara Government which have been appreciated state wide:

1. Family planning resources to be managed online:

Resources made available free of cost in state for family planning are now going to be managed through online system ‘E-Saadhan’. All information related to availability of family planning resources, usage, distribution and related information shall be managed online on health centers.

2. Security Equipments installed in roadways buses:

A panic red colour button has been provided exactly behind the driver seat. Upon feeling threat, female or any other person can press the button. Button is connected to vehicle tracking system. Upon pressing button, a message will be sent to Depot Manager of Roadways and control room. Vehicle number, location and time of pressing panic button shall be mentioned in the message. Two CCTV’s have also been installed in front of bus. They will keep an eye on all passengers. One still camera has also been installed. It shall sent the photo of bus in every 15 minutes to the control room. The nearest depot manager shall be intimated about the problem occurring in bus. Flying squad shall also march towards bus. Culprits shall be taken to nearest police station and necessary proceedings shall be initiated.  Currently, the system has been implemented in 20 Rajasthan Roadways buses running from Delhi to Jaipur. In coming phases, all 4500 buses shall possess this system. Rajasthan is the first state to install a system in bus keeping in mind safety of females.

3. Bhamashah Yojana:

Receive the benefits directly in your bank account with the implementation of this scheme. This scheme aims to introduce transparency in giving benefits to women by transferring money directly to their bank accounts. A card shall be issued and the card holder women shall be able to get ration from the public distribution system shops using bio-metric system. A certain amount shall also be credited to the women head of the BPL family. It has also been connected with Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to avail the benefits of that scheme also with the benefits of this scheme.

4. E-registrations to be initiated for diagnosis in SMS hospital:

E-registrations shall be initiated for scheduling appointments with doctors in SMS hospital. A data bank of the doctors shall be uploaded on the website. In the first phase, fast track counters of e-registrations shall be opened in general medicine and skin department followed by which, such counters shall be opened in other departments as well.

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