Another sun symbol, the hornbill, is also often used to crown the pole. Painted wood, height 64 cm. On the island of Nias, the sun is represented by gold. Gold symbolizes the upper world and the life-giving sun. The sun stands for goodness, purity, wealth, nobility, and is symbolized by a cock crowing at dawn.
Gold plays an all-pervading role in traditional rituals.
Gold jewelry could only be worn after the wearer had given a feast in honor of his ancestors. Instead of being handed down, gold jewels were melted and reused, By destroying the gold new life and light were created. Thus the making of new jewelry symbolized the cycle of life and death. The most striking gold jewels were gigantic headdresses in the form of cosmic trees of life incorporating a sun symbol such as a hornbill. On Java and Bali we encounter several sun symbols which originated in India.