Residents and visitors at Varanasi were excited to experience what it feels like to get a bird’s eye view of the city, known as the spiritual capital of India.
Organised as part of the Balloon and Boat Festival in Kashi, between January 17 to January 20, the celebration appealed to the adventurous spirit of people.
Photos, videos now viral
Photos and videos of the event, which gave visitors and locals a unique opportunity to view the city from above in the skies, have now gone viral.
Twitter/UP tourism
The festival was organised by Uttar Pradesh tourism. Visitors were able to ride balloons for 40-45 minutes by paying a fee of Rs 500. Pilots from five countries and 12 from different parts of India were called in to make the festival a grand success, said reports.
Scores of attendees shared glimpses of the event on social media. Some clips and photos were also shared on the Twitter accounts of Incredible India and UP Tourism.
The +1 flight of the #KashiBalloonFestival takes place – one last thrill-experience.
So many happy faces!#KashiBalloonAndBoatFestival #BalloonAndBoatFestival #Kashi #Varanasi #RethinkTourism #UPNahiDekhaTohIndiaNahiDekha pic.twitter.com/8vLGqGbnR6— UP Tourism (@uptourismgov) January 21, 2023
“Lift up your spirits as you fly like a bird, hovering over the ancient city of Varanasi at the grand Balloon Festival. Are you planning to board on this adventurous ride?,” Incredible India posted on Twitter.
Lift up your spirits as you fly like a bird, hovering over the ancient city of Varanasi at the grand Balloon Festival.
Are you planning to board on this adventurous ride?
Video Credit: @harshit_pallav (Instagram)@uptourismgov #DekhoApnaDesh
1/2 pic.twitter.com/9TEF5TtFIm
— Incredible!ndia (@incredibleindia) January 19, 2023
People of all age groups gathered at Dashashwamedh Ghat to witness the four-day festival.
The festival was launched in 2021 by the Uttar Pradesh government in a bid to boost tourism in the state.
The hot air balloon festival was organised together with a boat racing festival. Before the start, UP tourism had released logos of the four-day International Hot Air Ballooning and Boat Racing festival.
The logo, which was in the shape of a shield, read ‘Kashi balloon & boat festival’. In preparation for the event, a 3 km stretch of river Ganga, between Dashashwamedh and Namo ghat had to be mapped.
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