History of Kite flying in India

[Suresh Kolichala]

Makara Sankramana Greetings to all!

What is the earliest evidence of kites in India? It is generally agreed that kite originated in China and got introduced into India much later, probably around 1200 CE or later. I think Gāthas of Saint Namadeva (संत नामदेव) of Maharashtra (1270-1350) is where we find earliest literary reference to kites in India.

Are there any earlier references? Since paper is needed for kites, and as birch-barks and palm-leaves remained the preferred writing surface for literary works through late medieval period in most of India, we can presume that there wasn't wide consumption of paper in mainland India (until 1700s?).

In Telugu literature, there are descriptions of Samkrānti festival in krīḍābhirāmamu (14c), palnāṭi vīracaritra (15c), vijaya vilāsamu (17c), but none of them mention anything about kites. So, when did and how did kites become important part of the uttarāyaṇa/Samkrānti festival celebration?

Are there any other earlier references for kites in other regional literature? I appreciate any pointers.

Thanks,

Suresh.

[Ganesh R]

NamaskaaraaH,

Even in Sanskrit and classical Kannada literature, I haven't seen any reference to kites. The same I observe in Prakrit and other languages that I know. It is quite interesting to know that the names available to designate kites in Sanskrit are all newly coined and carry the flavour of local languages where kites became popular in later days.

With utmost regards and best wishes of makara-samkramana

Ganesh. R.

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[Radhakrishna Warrier]

Can words and their etymology give any clue to when kites were introduced in India?

In standard Malayalam and also in everyday common speech, the word for kite is paṭṭam (പട്ടം पट्टम्).  In Hindi, of course, it is pataṃg (पतंग).  In Sanskritized Malayalam pataṃgaṃ is a butterfly or a moth.

Regards,

Radhakrishna Warrier

, 

---

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Suresh Kolichala <suresh.k...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2020 6:48 PM
To: Bharatiya Vidvat parishad <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} History of Kite flying in India

 

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[Madhav Deshpande]

I see this information in a posting on the net:

"Kites are believed to have come to India with Buddhist missionaries from the East through the Silk Route, following which they travelled to distant lands such as Arabia and Europe. The earliest written accounts of the kite in ancient Indian literature can be found in the poetry of the thirteenth-century Marathi saint and poet, Namadeva. In his poems or gathas, he called it a gudi, and there is a mention that the kites were made from kaagad (paper). Written accounts of kites also exist in the songs and poems of sixteenth-century Marathi poets such as Dasopant and Ekanatha, both of whom call it vavadi. Along with poets from Western India, there are written accounts of the kite from the Awadh region in the Satsai of the Hindi poet Bihari."

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

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[Siddharth Wakankar]

I faintly remember that the doyen of researchers,the late Dr.P.K.Gode,wrote a paper on Kites.I exactly don't remember the exact reference at present.

Some other scholars can help.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

Vadodara.9427339942.

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[Irene Galstian]

This one?

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 8:24:10 AM UTC, Siddharth Wakankar wrote:

I faintly remember that the doyen of researchers,the late Dr.P.K.Gode,wrote a paper on Kites.I exactly don't remember the exact reference at present.

Some other scholars can help.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

Vadodara.9427339942.

On Wed 15 Jan, 2020, 9:40 AM Madhav Deshpande, <mmd...@umich.edu> wrote:

I see this information in a posting on the net:

"Kites are believed to have come to India with Buddhist missionaries from the East through the Silk Route, following which they travelled to distant lands such as Arabia and Europe. The earliest written accounts of the kite in ancient Indian literature can be found in the poetry of the thirteenth-century Marathi saint and poet, Namadeva. In his poems or gathas, he called it a gudi, and there is a mention that the kites were made from kaagad (paper). Written accounts of kites also exist in the songs and poems of sixteenth-century Marathi poets such as Dasopant and Ekanatha, both of whom call it vavadi. Along with poets from Western India, there are written accounts of the kite from the Awadh region in the Satsai of the Hindi poet Bihari."

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 7:38 PM Radhakrishna Warrier <radwa...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Can words and their etymology give any clue to when kites were introduced in India?

In standard Malayalam and also in everyday common speech, the word for kite is paṭṭam (പട്ടം पट्टम्).  In Hindi, of course, it is pataṃg (पतंग).  In Sanskritized Malayalam pataṃgaṃ is a butterfly or a moth.

Regards,

Radhakrishna Warrier

, 

---

From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com <bvpar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Suresh Kolichala <suresh....@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2020 6:48 PM
To: Bharatiya Vidvat parishad <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} History of Kite flying in India

Makara Sankramana Greetings to all!

What is the earliest evidence of kites in India? It is generally agreed that kite originated in China and got introduced into India much later, probably around 1200 CE or later. I think Gāthas of Saint Namadeva (संत नामदेव) of Maharashtra (1270-1350) is where we find earliest literary reference to kites in India.

Are there any earlier references? Since paper is needed for kites, and as birch-barks and palm-leaves remained the preferred writing surface for literary works through late medieval period in most of India, we can presume that there wasn't wide consumption of paper in mainland India (until 1700s?).

In Telugu literature, there are descriptions of Samkrānti festival in krīḍābhirāmamu (14c), palnāṭi vīracaritra (15c), vijaya vilāsamu (17c), but none of them mention anything about kites. So, when did and how did kites become important part of the uttarāyaṇa/Samkrānti festival celebration?

Are there any other earlier references for kites in other regional literature? I appreciate any pointers.

Thanks,

Suresh.

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[Siddharth Wakankar]

It seems to be a second paper on this subject,since the title is Further Note.

I will try to locate the earlier one,if at all it is written by him.

Thanks for this prompt service.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

Vadodara.9427339942.

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[Irene Galstian]

Gode mentions his contribution to the Taraporewala Memorial Volume as the first part of the study, but I couldn't see it there:

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.127992/page/n1

Maybe there's another memorial volume? 

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[Siddharth Wakankar]

I will just try to locate the  bibliography of P.K.Gode and try to find it therein.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

Vadodara.9427339942.

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[Harunaga Isaacson]

It is within this volume of Indian Linguistics:

http://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/15286.pdf

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[Irene Galstian]

Thank you!

[R. N. iyengar]

Thanks to Dr. Irene for Gode's paper.

PK Gode cites flying balloons (1241 & 1401 AD) of Europe. It would be of interest to note that Bhoja in his SamaraangaNa-Sutradhaara (1055 AD) does mention such devices. Prof.V.Raghavan's published work on the topic is extracted below (page 62).

  I doubt very much about  mercury vapor and ovens mentioned by Prof.Raghavan. AFAIK, the Sanskrit word used is 'sUta' one of its meaning being quick silver or mercury. But sUta could just mean propeller/impeller. The learned author himself on P.52 says "...sUta is only a form of Earth". 

My guess is sUta refers to a mineral oil.  

RN Iyengar

On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 8:44 PM rniyengar <narayana...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Siddharth Wakankar]

I got the exact details.

P. 27,entry no.459 of Bibliography of the Published Writings of P. K. Gode( from 1916 to 1959)

Some Notes on the History of Kite in India and Outside- Taraporewalla Memorial Volume (Indian Linguistics, Vol. 17- June 1957).pp.90-97.

Hope,this suffices your requirement.

Thanks and regards.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

Vadodara.9427339942.

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[Irene Galstian]

Thank you, Professor Wakankar.

Irene

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[K S Kannan]

Cf. kathA-sarit-sAgara 7.9 :

The story of Rajyadhara and Pranadhara:

Verse 10:

काष्ठयन्त्रमयं सर्वम् चेष्टमानं सजीववत्

Verse 11:

विज्ञायमानं निर्जीव इति वाग्विरहात्परम्

Discernible as lifeless owing to the absence of the faculty of speech,

but otherwise the wooden automaton would function as though it did have life!

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--

Dr. K.S.Kannan  D.Litt.

​Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Chair Professor, IIT-Madras.

Senior Fellow, ICSSR, New Delhi.

Academic Director, Swadeshi Indology.

Member, Academic Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthana.

Nominated Member, IIAS, Shimla.

Former Professor, CAHC, Jain University, Bangalore.

Former Director, Karnataka Samskrit University, Bangalore.

Former Head, Dept. of Sanskrit, The National Colleges, Bangalore.

[K S Kannan]

One of the very early mention of Robotics.

[K S Kannan]

Looks like a whole city populated by robots.

[Madhav Deshpande]

Thanks, Harunaga, for this link to the volume of Indian Linguistics with Gode's article.  I have a physical copy of this volume and I was just about to scan this article.  It is interesting to see that the oldest use of the word पतंग to refer to a kite is found in the Marathi work योगसंग्राम by a Muslim saint Shekh Mahammad in 1645 A.D.  Ekanatha's use of the word वावडी for a kite is also interesting.  In modern Marathi, I had heard the phrase वावड्या उडवणे only in the sense of spreading fake news.  

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

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[Bijoy Misra]

How do you map Pushpaka in this context?

It is a low flying craft propelled with mechanical "horses" that do get disabled in impact with a fair size bird.

Can be repaired and put back in air!

The payload could be a function of number of mechanical devices in action.

The initial lift can be some hot air action!

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[K S Kannan]

The story referred to in KSS refers to aerial travel, to vimAna and mahAvimAna.

Technical details if any are not available in the story.

The date of KSS is roughly that of Bhoja (11th Century).

Lot of corroborative study may be required to assert

where the work speaks of actual flights, and where, of flights of fancy.

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