For more than half a century the great dragon kite, Ratu Panji Sakti, has watched over a village in Bali and is believed to bring luck to the village.
Community members of the Sanur hamlet of Dangin Peken come to pray for health, wealth and answers to their problems; some come praying for children. The sacred dragon queen kite, Ratu Panji Sakti, was crafted of gold leaf, jewels, cotton and bamboo in 1954 and granted to the village by a priest.
Kadek Suprapta has honored Panji all his life and now at 38 years of age he heads up the village kite arts office. “My cousin was born because of Panji. My uncle prayed to the dragon kite for a child, so he was born of the kite,” says Suprapta.
He stresses that while there is no scientific evidence, his community also trusts the kite to improve soil fertility and enhance crop growth for farmers.
“That’s what we believe, that soils become more fertile when Panji flies. It’s logic because the kite season is in the dry season. We plant watermelons and nuts. The soil is so dry it is cracked open. Maybe the sound of the kite enters the cracked soil — there is no science — but for sure we can harvest good watermelons,” says Suprapta of the kite that has a 5.5-meter wingspan and a 105-meter tail. The head or mask of the janggan (great kite) is of a green, heavily jeweled dragon’s head.
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