Journey Through Bali & Lombok. Paul Greenway
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Danu Beratan, nestled along- side a crater lake at Candikuning; Pura Tanah Lot, perched on an islet surrounded by other cliffside temples; Pura Pasaran Agung, along the isolated slopes of Bali’s highest peak; and Pura Taman Ayun in Mengwi, surrounded by a moat. But don’t forget that temples are not tourist attrac-tions, they are sacred buildings sometimes permanently closed to non-Hindus. And please don’t begrudge payment of entrance fees that help offset the enormous cost of maintaining temples and holding ceremonies.
The size and height of these banten tegeh offerings, which are layered with fruit, cakes and flowers, depend on the importance of the occasion.
During the Nyepi New Year festival, huge effigies are carried through the streets before being burned during elaborate ceremonies.
There are strict rules about where and how men and women pray, but while waiting for ceremonies to begin, friends and families can mingle and relax, especially after carrying the huge banten tegeh offerings.
Other Religions on Bali
The dominant minor religion on Bali is Islam. Muslims are descendants of Javanese who ruled and then fled to Bali from the 14th century, or are more recent job-seekers from across the world’s most populous Islamic nation. Sizable Muslim communities are located in the west, close to Java, and at Candikuning, while seafaring Buginese from Sulawesi and elsewhere across the archipelago have settled in Jimbaran and along the northern coast. Buddhism thrived on Bali during the 8th and 9th centuries and is still a dominant element of local Hindu rituals and philosophies, but the only evidence of Buddhist veneration these days is the monastery at Banjar, near Lovina. Christians in Denpasar are mostly descendants of Chinese settlers, while some expatriates worship at the elegant Protestant St Mikael’s Church at Seminyak. In the far west, two remarkable villages are successful examples of missionary zeal: Belimbing Sari is home to a large Protestant community where the church features a kul-kul drum, used at Hindu temples to make announcements, instead of church bells; and, five kilometers away, Palasari boasts a massive Catholic church with spires resembling pagoda-style meru shrines, also found in Hindu temples. The most admirable example of religious harmony on Bali, if not Indonesia, is at Benoa village on the northern end of Tanjung Benoa, where a Chinese temple, mosque and Hindu temple coexist peacefully.
The Bajra Sandhi monument in Denpasar, Bali, contains 33 dioramas depicting the people’s journey over the years of the island’s illustrious history.
Some Western residents and Balinese of Chinese background are Christians and worship in a handful of churches spread across the island.
Artful Offerings to the Gods
An integral element of the Hindu religion and, therefore, Balinese way of life, are offerings (banten) to the gods. Typically, a family may spend half their income and vast amounts of time assembling gifts to thank the favorable gods and entice them to join in the ceremonies, or to appease the demons in order to maintain universal harmony and good fortune for the family. The most common offerings are the canang (sari) trays made from coconut leaves and attractively packed with rice, morsels of food and flowers, which represent Shiva, the Destroyer of the Universe. Every day, canang are placed with burning incense, signifying Brahma, the Creator, at household and temple shrines and in front of shops, offices and homes, and then sprinkled with Holy Water symbolizing Vishnu, the Protector. Generations of women spend days before religious festivals creating huge numbers of diverse offerings, including the exquisite meter-high pyramids called banten tegeh that burst with flowers, rice cakes and fruit. Men happily involve themselves in cockfighting to offer blood to the demons, and help craft the penjor that decorate village streets during major festivals, particularly Galungan. Under these arched bamboo poles, a colorful lamak mat is placed. A symbolic sampian, shaped like a canang, dangles from the tip.
Laid every day along streets outside homes, shops and offices, canang offerings are made from coconut palm leaves and contain rice, flowers and maybe crackers and slices of fruit.
A sizable portion of the family income is used to create banten tegeh offerings, which comprise mostly fruit, such as jambu and salak, as well as more commonly known apples and bananas.
Contents of these enormous banten tegeh offerings are layered upon a dulang pedestal tray with a spike at the center to help keep everything stable.
No offering or communication with the gods is complete without presenting flowers, lighting a stick of incense and sprinkling the offering with holy water.
When attending temple ceremonies, women always wear elegant kamen sarong-style skirts, baju kebaya blouses and the obligatory waist sash.
The Traditional Market
Although mini-marts seem ubiquitous, and a few shopping malls have sprung up in the cities and tourist areas, most Balinese still shop at a pasar umum (public market). Market traders are almost always women, who don’t shy from rising before the roosters and transporting hefty bundles on their heads. Partaking in the banjar village association and playing in a gamelan orchestra are predominantly male domains, but markets are an essential chance for women to socialize, earn money and buy food that’s fresh and goods that comply with adat (traditional) customs.
Daily markets are sometimes makeshift, such as the one that operates near ‘bemo corner’ in Kuta between about 5 am and 8 am, or housed in a permanent structure like at Sanur. Some villages may only have markets every three days, on set days each week or at night (pasar malam). Others specialize, such as Pasar Kumbasari in Denpasar, which sells souvenirs and clothes, Pasar Burung, also in Denpasar, for birds and other caged animals, and at Candikuning, where traffic jams are created as drivers stop to buy rare delights like strawberries.
Some markets close, or the best produce is already bought, by the time tourists even contemplate breakfast. This is to ensure that food doesn’t rot in the heat and because traders often have other duties, such as cooking and tending to animals and rice fields. As well as fruit, vegetables, meat, clothes and household goods, ingredients for ceremonial offerings and canang, small trays woven from palm leaves, are sold. Impromptu fish markets (pasar ikan) are often positioned alongside roads within minutes of fully laden boats landing, for example, around Amed, while fish is put on ice all day at the extensive market at Jimbaran. The largest, oldest and most chaotic produce market is Pasar Badung in Denpasar, while the market at Semarapura is relatively spacious and clean, and the one in Ubud is convenient.
Some of the more unusual fruits often not found outside of Asia include salak, with its brown snake-like skin, and rambutan, with a hairy red covering.
Some market stalls also sell flowers and petals that can be added to the ubiquitous trays of canang offerings.
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