Balinese Culture: Starting a family in Bali

Here in Bali the community and the individual are inextricably linked by a system called adat, which means traditional law. Starting a family in Bali usually means the girl gets pregnant, then gets married to her pacar (boyfriend). In fact many Balinese men will not marry a girl until she proves he can get pregnant. Covarrubias writes that the Balinese are naturally promiscuous (something that might be stretched to cover other parts of Indonesia also ) and pre-marital sex is not a taboo, as long as it is discreet.

If a young man does not have his own place the girl will move to his parents village and live in their compound, space given for them to build a structure. If the couple decide to build their own family compound a priest must be consulted. The priest will take 3 measurements from the husband: from the tip of the thumb to the outside of the hand, from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow and from the tips of the outstretched arms. These measurements will be used to calculate an area for the new compound, the idea being that a big man will need a big compound. Before building can begin blessings must be made. There must also be ceremonies before the family can move in.

A fascinating subject that is part of the interlaced Balinese social system.