Picnic paradise: Pavagadh
With his exquisite monuments and adventure sports, this tiny hill station in Gujarat is an ideal holiday destination
By Eisha Sarkar
Posted On Monday, February 08, 2010 at 08:06:55 PM
A red ribbon flutters in the wind. It's past noon. We try to ignore our baked backs as we take in the breathtaking view of the valley below the 2,700 ft Pavagadh hill. "Now!" We turn our heads to see a man running backwards with a giant bow-shaped parachute attached to his backwards. "Not there, not there. There are too many trees," shouts the instructor. The man moves a little to his right, gathers speed and flings himself off the cliff as we marvel at the chute. The paragliding adventure finally kicks off at Gujarat's most popular picnic spot, Pavagadh
We watch as the paraglider hovers at the base of the cloud. The proud instructor, Mumbai-based Sanjay Pendurkar of Indus Paragliding, tells us, "You need to look for a thermal (hot air current that rises up in a spiral as soon as you jump off the cliff. Once you find it, you can stay in there for as long as you want to. The day before, a man was up there for five hours!"
As people wait for tandem paragliding (the term used for the joyride-like experience where a trained paraglider will take you along to give you the feel of the sport), we look at the landscape sprinkled with exquisitely-carved monuments that make up the only UNESCO-World Heritage Site in Gujarat.
More at : Mumbai Mirror
Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Paragliders' meet to kick off in Pavagadh today
Indus Paragliding in The Times Of India, 3 February 2010
VADODARA: Prominent paragliding pilots from across the country arrived in the city on Wednesday to take part in Pavagadh paragliding festival that will kick off at the pilgrim hill station from Thursday onwards.
The four-day festival has been organised by ex-army man and sports enthusiast Captain Rajiv with the aim to not only survey the potential of the sport there, but to also explore whether Pavagadh can make it on paragliding map.
"Paragliding is gaining ground in India very rapidly, and the two most popular sites in India are Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh and Kamshet near Pune. Gujarat is totally missing in this list. We are holding this festival as an attempt to try and get Gujarat in this list," Captain Rajiv told TOI on Wednesday, adding that Pavagadh tops the list of potential sites in Gujarat for cross-country flying, also known as flat land flying.
"We will check the duration of the flying distance possible at Pavagadh," said Gurpreet Dhindsa, who is ranked India's best paragliding pilot by Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). "Himachal Pradesh is famous for paragliding because many good pilots come there."
"Pilots always like to fly at different places. There is potential to make a good paragliding circuit by connecting Kamshet, Pavagadh and other sites of Madhya Pradesh," added Sanjay Pendurkar, who runs Indus Paragliding school at Kamshet.
After the festival, which will see participation of 15 experienced pilots, the organisers will also submit a report to Gujarat government with a plan of action that the state can follow to promote adventure sports at Pavagadh. "If the study indicates positive results Pavagadh paragliding festival can become an annual invitation festival which can be converted into an open competition and subsequently an international one," he added.
VADODARA: Prominent paragliding pilots from across the country arrived in the city on Wednesday to take part in Pavagadh paragliding festival that will kick off at the pilgrim hill station from Thursday onwards.
The four-day festival has been organised by ex-army man and sports enthusiast Captain Rajiv with the aim to not only survey the potential of the sport there, but to also explore whether Pavagadh can make it on paragliding map.
"Paragliding is gaining ground in India very rapidly, and the two most popular sites in India are Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh and Kamshet near Pune. Gujarat is totally missing in this list. We are holding this festival as an attempt to try and get Gujarat in this list," Captain Rajiv told TOI on Wednesday, adding that Pavagadh tops the list of potential sites in Gujarat for cross-country flying, also known as flat land flying.
"We will check the duration of the flying distance possible at Pavagadh," said Gurpreet Dhindsa, who is ranked India's best paragliding pilot by Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). "Himachal Pradesh is famous for paragliding because many good pilots come there."
"Pilots always like to fly at different places. There is potential to make a good paragliding circuit by connecting Kamshet, Pavagadh and other sites of Madhya Pradesh," added Sanjay Pendurkar, who runs Indus Paragliding school at Kamshet.
After the festival, which will see participation of 15 experienced pilots, the organisers will also submit a report to Gujarat government with a plan of action that the state can follow to promote adventure sports at Pavagadh. "If the study indicates positive results Pavagadh paragliding festival can become an annual invitation festival which can be converted into an open competition and subsequently an international one," he added.
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