In the present day framework of interactive, intelligent computing, an efficient human-computer interaction is assuming utmost importance in our daily lives. Gesture recognition can be termed as an approach in this direction. It is a process by which the gestures made by the user are recognized by the computer. The traditional way of human-computer interaction (HCI) is based on the mechanical devices such as keyboards, mice, joysticks, roller-balls, electronic pens, touch screens, gamepads and so on. These devices have grown to be familiar however inherently limit the speed and naturalness with which we interact with the computer. Every new device can be seen as an attempt to make the computer more intelligent and making humans able to perform more complicated communication with the computer.