Saturday July 23rd a special day for Balinese
Today is a special day for Balinese Hindus. We have the double-whammy of Saraswati, the day where you must bless books and Purnama, the full moon. The Balinese calendar is full dates where certain special rituals must be performed. There is one for blessing metal objects, farm implements, motorbikes and cars. Once in an internet cafe a young lady came around and blessed all the computers by saying a prayer and splashing holy water on them while we were using them.
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and all the creative arts. Saraswati is called the Mother of the Veda's and the repository of Brahma's creative intelligence. Saraswati is also called Vak Devi, the goddess of speech. Dressed in white, Saraswati holds a mala and a palm leaf scroll, indicating knowledge. Saraswati usually rides a swan and sometimes a peacock, while playing music on a veena. While I was in Ubud one of the midnight dances mentioned Saraswati by name.
At the temple in front of my house a solo Balinese singer was singing late into the night, although I think Purnama was her real concern.
By Nick | Permalink
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Hi Nick,
Billy and I are here from Ventura CA and thought we might like to hook up with you and Ika for a drink or dinner. My cell is 805-415-9749 so you can either call or text message. We are flying to Lombok tomorrow for 4 days and then back to Bali. We are taking a surfboard over to Lombok and wanted to check with you what airline accepts surfboards as baggage.
Jamie