Deputy mayor Madhusudan Sahu (right) inaugurates the kite-flying tournament. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 27: Years ago flying kites was almost written off as a dying tradition in Cuttack — but a certain group of people were convinced that the romance was not over.

People of an old locality in Ganeshghat near the banks of Kathajodi decided to revive Cuttack’s old passion through the Hare Krushna Das Memorial Kite Flying Tournament-2008 held on the sandy bed of the Kathajodi.

Late Hare Krushna Das of Sahibzada Bazaar was a wrestler known for his ingenious kite-flying in the locality. He died in 1990.

“So we named our organisation and the tournament after him,” said Subash Sharma, 52 The tournament, which was started in 1992, was the brainchild of Sharma.

This year the meet that concluding on Saturday saw the largest number of participants — more than 350 people. “When we started over a decade ago there were hardly 40 participants and the meet lasted for some hours. Over the years numbers rose. And this year the numbers went up to 350-and-above forcing us to stretch the meet over four days,” said Subash Sharma, the organising secretary of the Hare Krushna Das Memorial Kite Flying Tournament.

Some two decades ago kite flying was Cuttack’s passion, especially during the winter and after Makar Sankranti children and men alike would pour into the dusty streets to fly kites. When interests started to wane the organisation comprising older members (between 40 and 50 years of age) took a stand.

The tournament is divided into two categories — one for the under-18 people and the other for those above 18. In the first category a winner can walk away with the prize money of Rs 5,000 while for the under-18 category the first prize is Rs 2,000.

To participate each enthusiast has to pay an entry fees of Rs 100.

“Unlike other sports, kite-flying is less of a fight and more about individual joy,” said 43-year-old Ajay Sahu, one of the participants.

This year’s winners are Sheikh Kabir (22) of Oriya Bazaar who became the champion in the above 18 category, followed by Anil Kumar Mishra (20) of Silpikumbhar Sahi and Mohammad Rinku (28) of Diwan Bazaar in the second and third position respectively.

Sheikh Aspak (10) of Hatipokhari walked away as the winner in the juniors’ championship followed by Lucky Pradhan (14) of Bakhrabad and Sheikh Rohit (10) of Bakhrabad.