Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: February 28, 1999
Article Type: Journal

What is almost certainly the first extended English-language essay on Cambodia kites ever written has recently been published by Sim Sarak, director of the Department of Cultural Development of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sarak presented a signed copy of the unique document to the Drachen Foundation at a recent meeting with a free-lance representative of the institution, Ben Ruhe, in Phnom Penh. He also presented the foundation with a prize Kleng Ek kite, the royal kite of his country associated with the ancient Khmer culture.

There are written records from the Khmer period many hundreds of years ago-an inscribed stone dated 824 A.D. citing a royal kite flying ceremony, as well as a later diary by a Portuguese visitor, Quiroga de San Antonio, which mentions kites with hummers creating "a sweet sound."

PDF Link: Journal Issue