Barong and Keris Dance - Batubulan, Bali, Indonesia

Barong enters the courtyard prancing to the rhythm of the gamelan ensemble

A tour to Bali isn't complete without attending the many cultural performance around the island. The Barong and Keris dance is one of the performance we attended in Batubulan. Although, it is hard to understand the whole epic, still it is worth watching the colorful play and listening to the smooth gamelan music throughout the show. 

The traditional gamelan musicians accompanying the performance

The dance is about a battle between the good and evil. Interestingly, the whole dance-drama brought together the element of religion, history and mythology into play which they believe that the reality of the world is all about good and bad.  

It was an enjoyable show to watch but not for a faint heart as the characters played are very strong and at some point the music and the dance can  increase the heart beat.  We took the seats in the first row and at times the sound of the Barong and Rangada thumping on the grounds with bells ringing furiously took us by surprise. 

On the whole, I think this is a powerful dance that draws our eyes and sight to their movement.  There're actually other places where the same dance is on show but the one in Batubulan is said to be the best in the island.  This is definitely a must-see when you are in Bali. The ticket is 100,000 Rupiah.

The servants of Dewi Kunti 

Eyes movement is the key element of the Bali dancing

Servants of Dewi Kunti clad in colorful costumes

Sadewa, the son of Dewi Kunti  - a female acting the role of a male

Sadewa with the servants

In anger

A playact to entertain the audience

Sadewa is going to fight the Barong

The evil spirit, Rangada, in wrath

The Barong men tries to kill Rangada but failed and they killed themselves

They died

Some of the Barong followers were in trance

Sesaji - The Bali Tradition - Bali, Indonesia

Sesaji on our boat to Terunyan Village, Lake Batur

I was surprised to see this little basket filled with flowers, food, fruits or just about anything edible along sidewalks and almost everywhere all over Bali. Our guide told us not to step on the 'sesaji' as these are small offerings that  the Balinese made to their god or to the unseen thrice daily.  It is believe that the offering appeases the spirits and bring happiness to the giver. 

This sesaji was found on the steps of the temple in Tanah Lot

About 95% of Bali population adheres to Hinduism. Balinese Hinduism is strongly influence by animism and nature and as such they see the manifestation of supreme spirit in huge trees, mountain, unique grounds, demon, ogres and could be anything. The people of Bali have to abide by their religion and custom strictly. Compliance are closely monitored by the Custom Police (Polis Adat) and any defiance act will be subjected to punishment. 

There are thousands of temples known as pura in local language and every village in Bali has at least 3 temples and in many instances there could be more. Therefore, it seems that you will be meeting temples almost in every space in Bali.  Balinese performance of art, music and drama incorporate their religious rituals which usually take place outside the temples wall. Every performance begins with the preparation of sesaji by the spiritual leader.

Sesaji at Tampaksiring

Sesaji with flowers and biscuits in Uluwatu

Sesaji at Villa Chempaka balcony

Preparing sesaji before Barong and Keris (Demon and Dagger) Dance

Sesaji at Dreamland Beach

Preparing Sesaji container at Kintamani

The huge tree becomes an object of worship

Preparing sesaji before Kecak Dance

The Death of Terunyans - Lake Batur, Bali, Indonesia

Human skulls lined on higher ground

We hired our boat from the counter at this jetty

The Terunyan village is one of the oldest village located on the edge of Lake Batur, Kintamani. Teruyans are the original Bali descendants. What attract tourists to this village is the way they treat dead bodies.  We hired a private boat for 600,000 Rupiah to Terunyan Village to see how dead bodies are treated. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to reach there. We could hire a shared boat but considering we might not want to stay that long, we decided to take a private boat and our guide Eduardo came along. 

Our boatman waiting for us

As our boat approaches the rustic jetty, the ambiance was spooky. We alighted and was guided by the man who is a Terunyan himself to the 'Cemetry located slightly up the hill.  Eduardo had told us, "Don't be surprise, the corpses have no smell." We were wondering if that is possible! Surprisingly the dead bodies were not buried but placed on the roots of the huge Tarumenyan tree and the tree absorbed the smell of the corpses  perfectly that we smell nothing.

The entrance of the graveyard

Not every Terunyan can be placed on this ground, only those who are "purified", married and young are chosen to be here.  Each time only 11 corpses can occupy the space and with some of their personal items used during their life time, they are laid on the foot of the Tarumenyan tree to rest. After the corpses perished, their skulls are arranged on higher grounds. From the conical bamboo casing we could see that some of the bodies were rotting but amazingly, there was no smell.  Looking at the condition of the body, we felt eerie and decided to leave the cemetery.

Tarumenyan Tree

Tarumenyan Tree

The bodies are placed on the burial grounds 

Their personal items are laid with them

Their personal items includes cooking utensils, plates and cups

The rotting body in the bamboo cage

The teeth of the corpse was visible

Another dead body

Closer look at the dead body

Picture of the deceased

The cemetry

Lines of conical bamboo cage filled with dead bodies

Visitors scattered coins on the graveyard

Just before we left a group of visitors came

A Gift of Love

A set of perfume as gift

A watch in a 'garden' of fresh flowers

Marriage is a lifetime journey which deserves celebration in any culture. Apart from the solemnization, it is customary in the Malay wedding, the bride and the groom exchanged gifts (hantaran) as a symbol of love and new relationship sealed on the special day. The gifts need not have to be expensive but what is more important is the message delivered in the "hantaran" (from the Malay word "hantar" which mean to send). The gifts can range from the cheap chocolate and cookies to the massive amount of dowry!

From the groom, the gifts include among others the dowry to the bride, a wedding ring and other gifts.  While the bride will be presenting more trays of gifts than the groom, the focal point of families and friends is the presentation of the gifts which can be delightful to the eyes. If the groom send 5 trays of gifts to the bride, she will reciprocate by sending 7 trays in return and the number of trays are usually paired in odd numbers. I'm not sure of the logic! 

Some families take the pain of preparing the trays of gifts themselves, while others would engage professionals to do the job. Just look at the work of art and heart by Maya Puri Creations (http://www.facebook.com/maya.puri.creations), who has appeared in the local magazines for her splendid work. The creative lady Safinaz always uses fresh flowers and she cleverly blends her palette of colors to come up with fascinating presentations. Doing away with complicated creation (gubahan), her work portrays simplicity yet fresh and natural!

A set of pens

Fruits can be one of the gifts on the tray

The Sticky sweets presented on the tray

The fresh flowers were recycled for home decoration

Gift of cuppies