Sanskar Kendra Kite Museum

Sanskar Kendra is a civic building designed by Le Corbusier at Paldi, west Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and it houses the Patang (Kite) Museum. The building is one of several Ahmedabad works by the Swiss-French architect, and its exposed concrete, brise-soleil screens and ramps reflect his approach to light and ventilation in a hot climate. Originally conceived as a city museum, it now includes the kite museum, which covers Uttarayan, the mid-January festival when the skies of Gujarat fill with kites, and the craft of kite-making. Visitors see kites of many shapes, sizes and materials, tools used in making them, and displays on the paper, bamboo and string traditions of the region. The exhibits explain how the festival is celebrated, the competitive tradition of cutting rival kites' strings and the history of the pastime in Ahmedabad. For architecture enthusiasts, the visit is also a chance to study a Le Corbusier interior at close range, including the ramped circulation, the way daylight is filtered and the tactile concrete surfaces. A visit takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Opening hours, admission and any closing day are not fixed in listings, so visitors should check locally before going and be ready to view the exterior only if the museum is closed. Photography rules may vary, so visitors should ask staff. The museum is quietest on weekday afternoons, and the Uttarayan period in January brings the most interest, when the kite culture is at its peak. The building is easy to combine with other modernist sights in the city, such as the Amdavad ni Gufa and the Sabarmati Riverfront. Auto-rickshaws and taxis are the simplest way to get to Paldi.