Still, several participants still thought the rule was made to
be broken. One participant deliberately broke the rule in order
to set a new record for the biggest kite in Indonesia. 'The kite
was sponsored by an individual who spent at least Rp 30 million
to construct this giant kite,' a source said. The kite, in the
form of the traditional jangan (eagle) was 10-meters long, seven-meters
wide, and with an enormous 250-meter long tail. Unfortunately,
the team from the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI), and of
course the kite's owner, eventually had to leave the festival
ground disappointed after the kite did not even manage to take
off. Weak winds and insufficient human assistance -- the giant
kite was manned by only 16 people, while many smaller kites in
the festival were manned by at least 20 people each -- were two
elements blamed for the failure.
'This increase (in the number of participants) amazes
me. The cost of constructing a kite is between Rp 5 million and
Rp 10 million, and each Sekeha Teruna Teruni usually builds more
than three kites. With the present economic crisis, it is amazing
they can come up with such a huge amount of money to construct
these kites,' an observer said. And winners of the festival do
not receive much either. The first winner only takes home a trophy
and just Rp 1.5 million in cash. 'Well, they (the Sekeha Teruna
Teruni) took part in this event not for the reward, but for pride,
so they can 'show of' their respective village's ability and achievement,'
Rai said.
Initially, Rai said, Balinese farmers flew kites
to express their gratitude to the gods after an abundant harvest.
This semi-sacred function was the reason why the colors of Balinese
traditional kites are the combination of red, black, white and
yellow, the colors of the Hindu's trinity of Brahma, Wisnu and
Siwa. (Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
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