A dim blue light floats over the roof of a two-story building in Sanur, Bali.

It can’t be an airplane. It’s been in the same spot for too long.

It’s not a star either. It’s gently moving back and forth in the night sky.

Suddenly I click. It’s a kite! Since arriving in Bali, I’ve seen kites soaring over the island in preparation for an upcoming kite festival.

This is just one of many annual kite festivals in a calendar filled with traditional celebrations. The biggest of these annual celebrations are Galungan & Kuningan, when ancestral spirits return to earth to walk among the mortals.

Galungan & Kuningan

Galungan & Kuningan is an annual Balinese Hindu festival. The festive period starts with Galungan, which celebrates the mythological victory of Lord Indra over King Mayadenawa. In Hindu belief, this symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.

When I arrived in Bali on 12 June, the island was preparing for the Galungan & Kuningan celebrations. Leading up to Galungan, Balinese Hindus decorate the family temples in their housing compounds (called Rumah in Balinese) and install Penjor on the streets outside their homes.

A Penjor is a curved bamboo artwork resembling a dragon. Throughout the Balinese Hindu festival of Galungan & Kuningan, people place offerings in the basket below the dragon’s head.

Penjor vary in colour and design complexity, with the more ornate, detailed ones costing upward of 3 million Indonesian Rupiah.

Businesses and richer families or those wishing to make a more elaborate offering to the gods put out larger and more splendid Penjor.

Driving through villages, especially in the central parts of the island around Ubud and Tabanan, feels like a constant festival procession, with colourful Penjor and decorated temples lining the streets and kites soaring overhead.

For 10 days, families make offerings at temples, visit relatives, and celebrate as a community.

Kuningan, derived from the word kungin (yellow), signals the end of the festival period when the spirits depart again. Families prepare yellow rice, symbolizing prosperity, purity, and gratitude. This ends arguably the most vibrant, culturally rich celebration in the 210-day Balinese Pawukon calendar.

Hinduism in Bali

Bali is the only Indonesian island where Hinduism is the dominant religion. About 86-87% of Bali’s population practices Hinduism. The history of Bali’s unique religion and culture dates back nearly a thousand years.

The Majapahit Empire was a major power in Southeast Asia from the 13th to 16th Century. The seat of power was in Java, but the empire ruled over most of the Indonesian archipelago and had vassal states as far as Siam (modern Thailand).

Indonesia has always been home to a diverse range of ethnic groups, languages, and religions. Religious diversity and tolerance was a hallmark of society even during the time of the Majapahit Empire.

In Majapahit and the preceding Singasari empire, Hinduism and Buddhism coexisted peacefully. Both religions were practiced side by side, and the rulers relied on Hindu priests and Buddhist monks alike as spiritual advisors.

Much of the history of the golden age of Majapahit survived thanks to the written records of a Buddhist monk, Prapanka, who documented the reign of King Hayam Wuruk. Prapanka traveled with the royal entourage on several tours of the empire’s heartland. His published records, the Nagarakretagama, are among the few surviving texts from this period of Indonesian history.

The Majapahit empire lost power in the early 16th Century due to internal political strife and civil war. The empire eventually collapsed in 1527, when the Sultanate of Demak (a Muslim state from northern Java) invaded, and Islam became the dominant religion throughout Indonesia.

Members of the Majapahit ruling class fled to Bali,  establishing the unique culture and religion that continues to this day.

Balinese Homestay Experience: Two nights in Tabanan

My most memorable experience in Bali was the traditional Balinese homestay at Rumah Desa.

I spent two nights here learning about Balinese culture from the host and owner, Wayan Sudiantara, his family, and expert guides.

These homestay experiences offer a number of fun activities.

Upon arrival, our guide, Defar, taught us about the Balinese writing system and showed us how to fold Canang sari from bamboo leaves and what the different colour flowers symbolize.

During the two days I spent there, we learned how to make traditional Balinese specialties like Satay and an aromatic sauce called Basa Genep that is used in many dishes.

Another unique thing to do during these Balinese homestays is trying your hand at farming. We got to ride a plow pulled by two domesticated buffaloes and got knee-deep in the mud to plant rice seedlings in a rice paddy.

Farmers in Tabanan mainly plant rice, flowers, and chilies. I found it fascinating that so much land is dedicated to growing flowers. Flowers are used in Canang Sari and sold to hotels, restaurants, and other businesses for decoration.

It’s a real testament to how important religious tradition and beautification are that they dedicate so much agricultural land to growing flowers instead of food crops.

By far my favourite traditional Balinese experience was playing Gamelan music with Jo and Defar. The young girls from Rumah Desa and the surrounding villages did a traditional dance, and we provided the accompaniment on drums, gender (an instrument similar to a glockenspiel), and other instruments.

On the day of Galungan, Defar also took us on a walk around the surrounding villages and rice paddies. We got to see the locals gathering at their relatives’ houses in traditional attire and bringing offerings to temples. After stopping at the ancient fig tree, he also took us to visit his mother’s Rumah, where we were treated to delicious fermented rice.

Spending Galungan in a traditional setting was an unforgettable experience.

Kite Flying in Indonesia

Kite flying has been popular across the Indonesian islands for thousands of years.

Flying kites is a popular pastime among children and youth, and it’s common to see kites resembling large birds flying over the island.

Bigger kite festivals are held throughout the year. In Bali, June is especially popular for kite flying because of the strong winds that prevail at this time of year. These same winds contribute to strong ocean currents and larger waves for surfing. When I returned to Bali on 4 June after a week in Lombok, the number of kites in the sky had more than doubled.

Colourful kites resembling dragons with long streaming tails decorated the skies. According to my colleague and friend, a local guide named Jo, the impressive kites that I excitedly pointed out were merely small ones. The largest of these Janggan as they are known, can reach up to 100m in length!

Some people even decorate their kites with lights. Whether this is just to keep the festivities going at night-time, or a safety measure for helicopters or low-flying airplanes, I’m not sure. But it was one of these illuminated kites that provided my extraterrestrial encounter in Sanur.

Balinese culture is rich in tradition and history. When visiting, skip the nightclubs and beaches for a few days, hire a local guide, and venture into the heart of the island to experience the beauty of Bali and the warm nature of its people from a local perspective.