The temples

Being the island of the Gods, everywhere you go in Bali you will see temples. These are our places of worship. There are at least three of them in each village - one for each God. In the center of the village is the Pura Desa - the temple of founders of the village - and thus dedicated to Brahma, the creator. In the direction of the volcanoes - kaje - you'll find the Pura Puseh, dedicated to Wisnu, whose symbol is water coming down from the mountains. And the opposite direction - kelod - near the cemetery, is the Pura Dalem, the temple of Siwa - destroyer and recycler of the spirit. We also build shrines in the paddy fields, close to the springs, and each house has their family temple. The most important temples are those situated in the mountains. The island's main temple is Besakih. It is very beautiful; we call it the mother - temple because it is linked to Agung, the volcano where Siwa lives, in the company of our ancestors. There are always visitors there and grandiose ceremonies are organized that attract all of Bali. You can reach the place of prayer by going through a Candi Bentar, then climbing a great number of steps; the higher to the sky you climb, the closer to the Gods you will be. At each temple entrance, you will find funny - looking statues representing Raksasa, a kind of demon who is very protective . His bulging eyes and grimacing face are meant to discourage the other demons, the real ones from entering. He too wears a poleng-checkered fabric, in homage to the good and bad spirits. However, inside the temple, the statues are generally surrounded by fabrics in lighter colors. A balinese temple has no rooftop, so that the Gods and the ancestors may easily enter when they are invited to ceremonies.

There are always three parts in a temple. The most sacred part is located in the direction of volcano - kaje. It is called jeroan. That's where people pray and where the sacred shires are. This raised section is always set apart by a wall and a tall door, the Kori Agung, above which, you often find an effigy of Boma, a demon without a lower jaw.

In the great temples, you will see buildings called merus, named after the mythical Himalayan mountain. These are sacred shrines. Their roof is covered with black fibred from a sugar palm tree called Punyan Jaka. The most beautiful ones can be up to eleven storeys high! They symbolized all the stages of paradise. In the picture, you can see the temples of Tanah Lot. It was build on big rock, which unfortunately is continuing to sink into the sea, and offers a marvellous example of meru. You can see its chiselled contours standing out in the sky. There is always a padmasana in the temples. Look for it next timeyou visit a temple. It is an altar that represents our universe. Just like at the bottom of the picture, you will recognize the feet of the turtle, Bedawang, entangled in two Naga, whose heads appear on the side, unless their bodies are extended along the stairs. Above, the human wold is symbolized by sculptured leaves and mountains and at the very top, in the world of the Gods, there is something like thorne that is empty.

The middle part of the temple, acalled jaba, is where the decorations are stored. Most often there is a kitchen and pavilion, or bale, where the offerings are arranged before being presented to the Gods in the jeroan. Next, separated from this intermediate part by a candi bentar, is the secular part that is used as a meeting place. All activities are allowed: talking, playing cards ... The sites where our temples are erected are very old, but their buildings, unlike what they seem, are relatively recent. They have a wonderful seen from the moss that covers them. The temples are carefully looked after, but since the climate is very humid and they are build with pragile materials, they are frequently improved and rebuilt. As a matter of fact, it is said that a temple lasts a man's life. Luckily, our tradition, passed on from generation to generation, has allowed us to keep sculpting them with the same care for centuries, in order to honour our Gods! Nowadays, we use red brick and cement in the south of the island and volcanic stone or paras in the north.

Selamat Jalan: Have a save journey!

On the side of the road, you will frequently notice very tall trees that we call Banyans. Their trunks are sometimes nearly 10 meters wide and are quite astonishing to look at, with their roots hanging like long hair. As soon as they start to reach the ground, the banyan becomes sacred, like all the large trees. Then we build a small shrines nearby, with a covered base, like all the statues at the entrance of the temples, of black and white checkered fabric that we call poleng. The contrast of the two opposite colors remind us of the opposition between good and evil.

At the entry of most of the important villages, a tall, sculpted construction was built on each side of the road. The are the candi bentars. Passing through them, will give you impression that you going through a door that has been split into two equal parts. For centuries, we’ve been using them in temples in order to distinguish the entrance to the high part, which is the most sacred. And we would say that should a demon try to go through these candi bentars, the two pieces would meet and they would be squashed!

These one framing the roads are rather recent, only about 40 years old. They are not only very decorative but also serve to delimit the areas between the village and the district, for instance, When you arrive there, you will see written: Selama Datang, welcome, and when you leave: Selamat Jalan, have a save journey.

Kelod, kaja, kauh, kangin: the Balinese directions

Before hitting the road, I must warn you: we always find our way around in relation of the top of Agung volcano, cradle of the Gods and of our ancestors, and to the chain of volcanic mountains that splits the island in to two. We don’t say south and north, but kaja (toward the top) and kelod (toward the sea), which means, one or the other, according toward to the part of the island where we are.

We also indicate the way to travelers by referring to these directions, as well as east (kangin), and west (kauh) rather than right or left. It feels natural to us, for we always know precisely where we are in relation to the summits, the sea and to the rising and setting of the sun, which are our principal orientations. You will also notice that everything is organized and laid around the sacred direction of mount Agung: our village, our temple, our houses, and even our beds, since we must position them so that our heads are pointing towards its top. This is beneficial direction as it releases the flow of life energy, just as the river water runs down from the mountains.

The Balinese Philosophy

We don’t have to understand each and very rule and commandment of our religion, our priests are in charge of that. But we believe that all things in the world are connected, whether they are animate or inanimate. This is what we call principal of participation. Everywhere, two forces face one another and always will – one positive, the other negative – and as I explained to you earlier, there is no chance that the negative part will ever disappear! The macrocosms – the universe – are thus made up of three parts. One part is negative and is the demons’ headquarters; another is neutral and belongs to man; and the last one, the highest, is positive and sacred, and naturally the domain of the Gods. The human group must behave in the most appropriate manner, to allow the positive order, or dharma. This notion of dharma is different from the notion of good and evil. For us, there is no best way to behave, but rather an appropriate manner. The actions of a farmer who cultivates rice and whose family has made the prescribed offerings properly are as worthy of respect as those of a Brahman sage who practices meditation. Everyone in his or her way contribute to the dharma.

One must first of all fulfill their part according to their position in the community and thus contribute to the global balance, which is more meaningful than their personal desires.

Man is not only a part of macrocosms but him self, a macrocosm. The negative shows itself in him too, through his angers, his passions, or through illness… and it is therefore necessary for him to work on maintaining the balance in himself, although impossible to not feel the influence of the negative forces. Anyway, by thus, I’m not always nice.

The sum of our actions, or karma, is decisive for our passage to the beyond, where there is a hell and a kingdom of heaven – Swah. According to what they were, there is a risk of returning to an earthly life that is better, or worse. It is said, for instance, that those who practice black magic are reincarnated as worms!

We call this belief in several cycles of life, reincarnation. Only those who have reached supreme serenity and liberation – or moksa – can have access to paradise – nirvana – and be exempted from returning to earth. For the time being, in this life, we must behave properly and help our group maintains the balance between opposite forces. And even we must avoid giving in to negative thoughts, passion and anger, which are the little demons of our small universe.

Balinese Hinduism and the Majapahit dynasty

In the beginning, we have more primitive religion. We used to celebrate the earth and our ancestors. Then, by eight century, our Balinese princes brought over from India high priests from both Hindu and Buddhist religions. From then on, their teachings were followed throughout Bali. Our princes also asked these priests to assign them divine their origin, in order to establish their authority. This is how we adopted very early on the three main Hindu Gods; Wisnu (the guardian), Brahma (the creator) and Siwa (the destructor), as well as their spouses. These Hindu Gods are very complicated, for each of them appears in various shapes – sometimes positive sometimes negative.

For example, in the founding myth of the Hindu religion, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, Wisnu came back nine times in the form of human, such as Krishna or Rama, to rescue man; whereas Brahma, who is very important since he is the creator, has always stood aloof from humans. As for Siwa, he alone embodies the two opposing forces of destruction by death and rebirth, with the equilibrium being symbolized by dance. Around the tenth century, where they were brought over from India and translated, we adopted the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. These epic tales have becomes as familiar to us if they had taken place on our island and before our eyes. In fact, in place of the Himalayan Mount Meru, we even gave Siwa the top of our highest volcano, Mount Agung, in which to reside.

But doesn’t mean we have given up on worshipping our ancestors. We believe that they live up there with him and sometimes come down to visit us on the occasion of certain ceremonies. With our offerings we give back to our ancestor part of what belongs to them (as they still own the earth) and honor our Gods at the same time. This is what Krishna, an incarnation of Wisnu tells Arjuna he should do, in the tale of Mahabharata. The heroes of the Mahabharata, the five Pandawa brothers, and all the episode of their struggle against their own cousins, the Korawa, are well-known to us. We adore Rama, the hero of Ramayana, who fought against the demons that reigned over Sri Lanka because he had kidnapped his wife, Sita. For us, he is not only the ideal man but also, like Khrisna, the driver of Arjuna’s carts a representation of the God, Wisnu. These are myths that we still stage today artistic representations such as ballet, plays or even puppet shows.

Though still Hindu, our religion was slightly different from the one practiced in Java, where the famous dynasty of the Majapahit reigned. Between the twelfth and fifteenth century, the relations between the two kingdoms were sometimes peaceful, sometimes warlike. The rivalry between our Balinese princes and the Javanese prince gave birth to a mythology as important and scared as the Hindus myths, as we credit our kings with divine origin and supernatural powers.

The conquest of Bali by the Majapahit Minister of State, the great Gajah Mada, in 1343, is still very famous. In those days, a part of Balinese governed by King Beda Ulu, who used to brag about his very strong supernatural powers. One day, he even cut off his own head and claimed he could put it back on all by himself. Siwa was so upset by his bragging that he replaced his head with one of a boar. From that day on, the king forbade anyone from looking at him, under penalty of death. When Gajah Mada arrived at the court on reconnaissance, he claimed to be very tired and famished. So he asked Beda Ulu permission to eat the fern leaves and rice he had brought from Java. The king having granted him the favor, Gajah Mada purposely grabbed a very long leaf. In order to put it in his mouth, he tipped has head so far back that he could stare straight into the eyes of the horrible Beda Ulu, thus violating the lethal interdiction. But because of the very ancient rule that prohibited disturbing anyone eating, Beda Ulu could not kill him. Out of his mind with anger, he flew into a rage so terrible that he was consumed by his own fire. Then by end of the fifteenth century, all of Majapahit fled Java and settled in Bali to escape from Islamization. After the reign of Prince Batu Rengong, the kingdom of Bali was divided onto numerous principalities. Hence-forth, the prince reigned over very tiny lands. Today, they still have their title, but their only kingdom is the respect of their subjects.

The invasion of the Majapahit resulted in the castes system; in Java as in India, the society was not classified like ours in two categories – those from outside and those from within, but in four. These our part or castes, stemmed from the first Hindu scriptures – the Vedic scriptures. They speak of how Brahma sacrificed himself to create mankind and how from his mouth came the purest, the Brahman; then from his arms, the valiant Ksatriyas warriors from his hips, the Wesyas; and from his feet, the more numerous Sudras. Today our society is still divided in these four categories and though it does not make a big different professionally, we still have more respect for the member of superior castes. Though it is possible for a young woman from an inferior caste to marry a member of superior castes, the opposite is looked down upon. Our religion as it is practiced nowadays, is thus a rather complex mix between worshipping nature and the ancestors, Buddhist and Hindu practices and the diabolical beliefs of the tantric cults … Recently, there came from India the belief on one supreme and unique God: Sang Hyang Widhi. He is the God by excellence, above all the others and existing prior to the creation of the world. One day, weary of nothingness, he created the other inferior Gods, in order to share his knowledge and to have them to create the world. Only his son Siwa supposedly had the courage to comply with his request. The others, having refused for fear of not being equal to the task, were sent back to each of the four cardinal points and transformed, then restored to favor… Of course you must find it very complicated, and we do too, actually. But in our life, all these different influences have resulted in way of thinking that simplifies things…

Appeasing the demons!

I will explain a little later which are the most important ceremonies, as well as specific offerings we make to celebrate them. As we pay homage to the Gods, we must also be very careful to satisfy the demons! In order to maintain the balance and not offend them, every day at home, just after we placed our basket-shaped offerings on the raised shrines for the attention of the Gods and our ancestors, we placed other offerings on the ground. These are intended for demons.

In the past, each family used to craft their own woven baskets. But nowadays, since women work very often out of the house, they can buy ready-made ones on the markets. Each basket –that we call canang sari- must contain flower petals and sweet foods, be sprinkled with holy water, and above all, toped with incense stick –or dupa- as it is the smoke that allows the essence of the offering to reach the Gods or the demons. The segehans that we put on the floor for the demons are not as pretty, and can contain rotten food. As a matter of the fact, the demons are quite voracious and gluttonous. They can’t even tell the different between good and bad food, which certainly not the case of the Gods who are very discerning.

So don’t surprise when you see these entire little basket on the ground with stick of burning incense. By the way, if you should happen to accidentally step on one, it’s not a big deal for us. What matters is that the offering was done, in the morning and evening, and that it contains everything it needs. The next morning, we sweep it away to replace it with a fresher one.

The demons, Bhuta and Kala, are monsters. We use both names even though no body quite knows the difference between the two. You will see sculpted representations of them in all the temples, placed in front of the entrance or sculpted above the door.

We put food we present to them on the floor because it’s the most impure part of the earth, but in fact, they wander just about everywhere. Luckily, they are only capable in moving straight line and unable to turn corner. By diverting them, we manage to prevent them from entering certain places.

It is said that they often hang out at crossroads where they cause a lot of accidents. When that happened, a priest comes quickly and performs ceremony; upon leaving, he places a pile of offerings at the point where the collision took place. If any blood was shed, since the demons are very fond of it, he will cover the site with a kind of bamboo trellis full of holes. All of these possible entry points will dater the demons that are rather shortsighted, and they will leave the victim alone. In the same manner, when we put our rooster on the cages with lots of opening- in order to protect them from the demons. We don’t hope to make Bhuta Kala disappear with our offerings; that’s impossible, as they are part of the universe. All that we can do is keep them happy enough so that they won’t show up, and may be, even have positive influence. Like the Gods, they are very demanding, and we spend a lot of them satisfying them. Before certain occasions, when we want to keep them huge offerings. I will explain to you which ones, but unlike those for the Gods, these are not edible. Instead we bury them.

But for you to understand where our practices come from, we first need history lesson.

Honoring the Gods

All artistic activities such as dancing, painting and music make the Gods happy. And that is why we are all artist to some extent. To please them, we craft very pretty decorations out of palm tree leaves, and other offerings that we display for them on a daily basis. You will probably see very young children practicing cutting the young leaves of coconut tree. They are very cheerful and never hurt themselves. Among the Gods that we celebrate, Brahma is the one of moving metal objects, like motorbikes or cars… His appointed day is called Tumpek Landep, but whenever we buy a new vehicle, we also have a ceremony in its honor so that the vehicle will be protected.

So don’t be surprised if you see vehicle on the road all decorated with pretty offerings, or priest sprinkling them with holy water. There also a day for masks and puppets, and a day for books and objects of knowledge: Saraswati. On that day, one mustn’t read or study! And another day for the trees: in south of the island, we dress them up with the traditional outfit and hit them symbolically with an axe to let the Gods know that we have presented them with offerings. And as we have lots of Gods, we are not short occasions to celebrate them! You will most likely come upon procession of woman forming a long line, and carrying pyramid-shaped offerings on their heads. They may celebrating a full moon, or a black moon, or the anniversary of the first inauguration of one of the village temples. They are walking to the temple to have their offering blessed. These consists of fruits, cakes, eggs and sometime even entire chickens, tied around a banana tree trunk. They present these to God, offerings them the essence of the object in homage. But once the ceremony is over, they take them home to be eaten in peace. Otherwise, it would really be a waste, as these are beautiful offerings and everything is delicious.

Island of the Gods – The tales

This is how our island was nicknamed, not only because of its great beauty and generous nature, but mostly because, for us Balinese Hindus, it belongs to several Gods, and the spirits of ancestors- who are very demanding! According to our beliefs, they lent us the earth, but in exchange, they count on us humans to maintain the balance on it.

Let me give you an example of our task: we see the earth as a big ball resting on a huge turtle called Bedawang. Around its feet are coiled two large guardian snakes – the Nagas.

Way above the earth, at the top of mount Agung volcano, the Gods and the ancestors dwell. We human beings, only occupy the intermediate part, that they lent us, where demons are free to come and cause damage. Sometimes when everything is going wrong, the turtle wakes up and start moving, which causes earthquakes. To make them cease as quickly as possible, we must make a lot noise in order to wake up the two guardian snakes.

Very small choice of first names

As you can see, our parents have a lot of freedom in choosing our last names but when it comes to our first names, they have very little choice! Here, first name attributed according to the rank of birth; they are only for groups and most of them can be for either a boy or girl. The first child can only be named Wayan or Putu, or may be, but only if it’s a boy, Gede. Then the second child, boy or girl, is called either Made or kadek; the third child, Nyoman or Komang; and the fourth one, Ketut, and that’s it. And then what? Well you start all over again! Which means that the same family, they are of ten several of people who have the same first name. And it was worse in the days of our parents, when families had at least seven or eight children.

To make it easy to know if it’s a boy or girl when reading the name, you write NI before a girl’s name, and I before a boy’s name.

In each family, no common last name!

Don’t be surprised if my sister and I don’t have the same last name. That’s because there are no actual family names here. Our parents are the ones who decide on our individual last names, but they wait at least three month before giving them us. That gives them enough time to get to know us, and have better idea of who we are.

Some children are given names according to the way they look. I have a friend who called Apple because he is very fat. If our looks don’t inspire anything in particular, our parents can also make up their minds according to the circumstances of our birth, or the quality they would like us to have.

This is a friend of me called Dharma, which means “good”, and his sister is called Murniati, means “pure heart”.

Had their parents preferred that they very smart, they would have called them Samarta or Pradnyana. And had they whished my friend’s sister to have a calm nature, they would have called her Santi. And had they thought about themselves a bit more, they would have called her Dharmi or Susilawati.

Eating the wind!

We are very friendly people (most of us), and very happy that our visitors are interested in our culture and traditions. We are also rather curious and we love children, so don’t be surprised if people talk to you on the street. We always ask one another how we are doing: lakar kije?, a bit like you would say: how are you? by saying where are you going? Without really waiting for the answer. Besides we frequently answer ngalih angin or ngajeng angin, which riterally means, in Indonesia “eating the wind”, just like you would say: “getting some fresh air”, and the one who asked the question is perfectly happy with that.

There are four ways of greeting someone, according to what time it is. You always begin with Selamat, then in the morning you add pagi; from 11 am to 2 pm, siang, then in the afternoon, sore, finally, in the evening malam…

There also two ways of saying goodbye! The one who is not leaving says, Selamat jalan (have a save journey), and the other one, who is leaving, answers Selamat tinggal (stay well). But you can just say: Hello and Goodbye, everybody knows that!

People will also ask you: “Dari mana?” (Where do you come from?) and “Namanya siapa? (What’s your name?).

Welcome to Bali!

Bali is one of 17,560 islands of the Indonesian Archipelago. Since more than 11,000 of them are inhabited, if you were to visit one island per day, you would go back home in thirty years, one month and seventeenth day (or so…), so I’m really glad if you came here first! Like most islands, Bali has its own dialect, but since the independence of our country, Indonesia, in August 17, 1945, we not only have a beautiful flag, red at the top and white at the bottom, but also national language, the Bahasa Indonesia. At home, we speak Balinese. Our parents teach us before we are old enough go to school. Then our teachers teach us Indonesian. So we are bilingual.

Indonesia is very spread out and also densely populated: a more than 245 million inhabitant, which makes us the fourth most populated country in the world; whereas in Bali, we are barely just over 3 million! At its longest point Bali is only 150 kilometers long, and 70 at its widest. So I must admit that my island is rather small, especially if you compare it to Java, where Jakarta, the capital of our country is located; but you’ll see, you’ve come to the right place. Just like our language, we have our very own religion and culture.

Foreword

Dear Reader,

Hi, I'm Komang. Welcome to my blog. Hereby, I will trying to publish all of information about Bali from A-Z.

Shortly, I'd like to be exist as a friend to all reader which is concerning in searching of information about Bali and beyond for any purposes; from traveling until Bali in its history behind.

I'm trying to manage this blog in a very simple viewing but with contents of information which hopefully as what readers hopes. "Accomodative Information" does the vision of this blog.

This blog, in its contents, more, came from a very unique book about bali; My Life in Bali, published in very limited numbers by PT Dian Rakyat, 2007. That's why I really do want to shares it.

I hope, what i've made in this blog as 'Bali in realities' shall means in your information searching.

Komang Di Bali

Prakata

Salam Budiman,

Hai, saya Komang. Selamat datang di blog saya. Disini saya akan berusaha memuat segala informasi yang berhubungan dengan Bali dari A-Z. Secara singkat, saya sangat ingin ada untuk menjadi teman pembaca sekalian, khususnya teman pembaca yang saat ini sedang mencari berbagai informasi tentang Bali untuk berbagai kebutuhan; mulai dari pariwisata hingga ke hal-hal yang bersifat sejarah dan perkembangannya.

Blog ini berusaha saya susun dengan sangat sederhana, namun dengan isi yang semoga mampu seperti apa yang pembaca harapkan." Akomodatif " itu visi saya dalam pembuatan blog ini.

Blog ini, untuk informasi tentang Bali diadaptasikan dan sebagian besar isi disadur dari sebuah buku: "My Life in Bali", adalah sebuah buku tentang Bali yang sangat unik baik dalam tampilan maupun isi yang diterbitkan oleh PT Dian Rakyat 2007, dengan terbitan yang sangat terbatas. Itulah mengapa saya sangat berharap segala informasi di dalamnya dapat juga dinikmati oleh khalayak umum yang membutuhkan.

Semoga apa yang saya buat tentang Bali dengan 'apa-adanya', akan cukup berarti.

Komang Di Bali