Bali Religion
Understanding Balinese Hinduism
Visitors to Bali will be immediately aware of the strength of the local culture and its Hindu based religion. Flower offerings mark shop fronts, the rattle of gamelan practice can be heard on major streets and abundant family temples offer a clue that something other that just cash and capitalism is at work here.
Date: October 23rd, 2007 |
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Puputan: Balinese ritual mass suicide
Balinese history has been largely influenced by outsiders. One group of outsiders, who have a history of violence and destruction, wherever they went were the Europeans. One of the bloodiest events in Balinese history occurred in Denpasar on September 20th, 1906, when the raja of Badung (the southern regency in Bali), Gusti Gede Ngurah came to the conclusion, that his court could no longer suffer under Dutch rule and ordered a mass suicide, the ritual puputan.
Date: April 9th, 2007 |
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Legong Dance in Ubud Bali
Visitors to Ubud usually end up at a temple dance. By that I don’t mean dressing sexy and grinding on the dance floor, I mean watching Balinese people perform traditional Balinese dances. On the main street, Jl. Raya Ubud, touts are out all day long, catching flies. I’ve never gone for it before, as I’ve always managed to see Balinese dances for free in villages around the island. Last night my friends were thinking about going for it, so I went along. There are many dances, but the one we saw was at the Ubud Palace at 7.30pm.
Date: December 22nd, 2006 |
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Preparations for a cremation ceremony in Seminyak Bali
Seminyak has its fair share of temples, being a dencely packed area. Across from Bintang supermarket, at the end of a gang (alley) is Pura Dalem Kahyangan. This morning the banjar men, including one of my neighbors, were standing outside, preparing bamboo partictions for an upcoming cremation ceremony. In Bali there are 3 main temples in each village, the Pura Puseh (temple in honor of the village founders), Pura Desa (village temple), Pura Dalem (temple of the dead), were cremation ceremonies are held. Just up the street at the junction of Jl. Seminyak and Jl. Dhyana Pura, is Pura Desa Seminyak. The Pura Dalem is always located at the kelod, or ‘unclean’ end of the village.
Date: December 15th, 2006 |
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Balinese ceremonies both large and small
Balinese culture revolves around Agama Hindu, the local version of Hinduism. The highlights of this cultural / religious observance are the upacara (ceremonies) that are colorful and frequent. The most important ones are Galungan, Kuningan, Tumpek and Nyepi to name a few - but there are those ceremonies that a majority of travellers to Bali are unaware of. Here are just a few.
Date: October 17th, 2007 |
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Idul Adha in Bali Indonesia
Today is a very important day for Muslims around the world, including those here in Bali. The occassion is Idul Adha, a day which celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for Allah (this religion seems to get off on pain for some reason). Allah allowed Abraham to kill a goat instead, so Muslims celebrate by visiting the masjid (mosque) then eating goat satay.
Date: December 31st, 2006 |
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Odalan ceremony in Ubud Bali
Ubud is a part of Bali that takes its ceremonies seriously. Here things are done in a slightly more fancy way, as if they feel they have to live up to something. One of the best times to be around a Balinese temple is the odalan ceremony. The odalan is the anniversary of the temple, which occurs every 210 days. As I was leaving my homestay this morning, 2 of the ladies were busy making a banten of fruit. These are the pyramids the ladies carry down the street, that you’ll see on most postcards. Its still a part of Balinese culture and one thing I’ve always wondered, is how they get the fruit to stay in place. This morning I looked inside the banten as they were making it and saw the inside of a banana tree.
Date: December 22nd, 2006 |
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Prasasti Blanjong : Sanur Bali
Prasasti Blanjong is the site of one of the oldest man-made objects in Bali. Today I callled my friend mike who lives in Sanur, to see if he was interested in checking out Prasasti Blanjong. The small temple and shrine and Prasati Blanjong, are located on Jl. Danau Poso, across from the Circle K. There is no entrance fee, or indeed anyone else there. After a 10 meter pathway, you’ll come to a glass enclosed stone pillar, which is 2 meters tall and inscribed with ancient text. The middle section of the pillar is wrapped in cloth, but we did see extracts of the worn inscriptions.
Date: December 13th, 2006 |
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