Kites:
Looking up I noticed a large black bird high in the sky. So high it seemed like it was still. Later in the day as the bird came into land, I recognized it. A kite! In the distance it looked like a large black bird with big wings and a tail.
When you are in Bali look up you are likely to see a kite or clusters of Kites. In southern Bali where we spent most of our time kites fly low and high bobbing along with the change in gusts of wind. They dot the skies with color and grace with lines anchored in neighborhood villas and the many beaches that
surround southern Bali.
Kites are a big deal in Bali. In early years young boys are taught to make their own kites using colorful paper and scraps of bamboo to hold them together. As the boys grow and become more proficient at kite building their designs become more elaborate. Kites get larger and stronger flying higher and farther. Sturdier pieces of bamboo and other materials are used and rope is used instead of string to keep them tethered to whatever anchor is used to keep the kite from flying away.
Men and boys gather in groups along the beachy areas of southern Sanur to show off their aerobic artistry. Each kite owner has a sense of pride in the preparation as they set up their wood and fabric look-a-likes in the shapes of birds or fish or other forms to decorate the sky over the earth.
There are three common shapes used in kite flying though there are other shapes as well. The most dominant are ones that look like a fish known as the Bebean. The Janggan resembles a bird. There is also one that resembles the shape of a leaf known as the Pecukan. Each of these figures in the sky are represented by the color black, red, white and yellow. The color black represents the Hindu god Shiva
while red represents Brahma and white, Vishnu. Yellow indicates balance. Traditionally kites in Bali were flown over fields as a tribute to the gods as an appeal for an abundant harvest. Everywhere we went the sky was always visited by at least one kite. Along the beaches many kites danced in the sky at one time. With so many kites in the sky at many different heights it’s amazing that
not one of them ever tangled up or ran into each other.
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