April-June is the time for flying kites

We can see in everywhere in villages variety of handmade kites with longtails made with flexible bamboo frame. The long and bamboo rods and smooth grow wild imagination. The whole bamboo frame of the kite is covered in colorful  transparent paper. Tied with nylon thread along 300 meter and then it flies. It’s sad if the kite stuck on a tree and its string is falling down or stuck on high tree. We can also buy the kites in the market, but in the village the youth make the kites themselves with various designs. There are sailboat- shaped, aircraft, bats, swallows, pigeons. Some also have tails. It is a contest.  It’s very interesting if a kite is flying high, then circling and pecking its tail or anther kite’s tail. For those who fly a kite into the sky on vertical position is awarded the first prize.

The original Nias Kite

In the past, for those who want to fly a kite, he had to take dried leaf staghorn plants (lu'u-lu'u). The yarn from the fiber of pineapple-leaf was used as string. And if they wanted to add a tail for the kite, they tied a long elephant grass on it. The beautiful flight of these Lu'u-lu'u leaves were compared with the flight of a hawk (moyo). Hence it was called: lu'u-lu'u moyo.