Ayu Sekar
Balian Bliss, at the Most Surprising of Places
Recently I experienced a treatment with a Balinese healer. He is a Balian Usada, which means that he comes from a long line of traditional healers, using energy to work on your system. Both his father and grandfather were healers, and possibly earlier generations as well. His energy was powerful and palpable and I could
Bangle, So Near Yet So Far Away
Snuggling under the holy Lempuyung mountain, one of Bali’s most iconic holy places, is Bangle. While it is close to fast forward Amed, when you take the turn off the main Amed track and head into the hills, a different world is there. A long a deep valet lie pristine rice fields, that remain green
A Sense of Style: Dressing Up for Ceremonies
The Balinese have an innate sense of style and nowhere is it becoming really apparent than when attending a ceremony. Their love of dressing up and decorating themselves and everything else in sight makes every ceremony absolutely gorgeous. Makeup is de rigour for dancers, with the boys painted up as much as the girls. While
Getting The Gong at Bali’s Pyramids of Chi
For years the magic of the gong has been in our lives, starting with the huge gong they play at the beginning of very old Hollywood movies, the gongs in every Balinese gamelan troupe and the welcome gong they beat to welcome guests in some hotels. Buddhist rituals and ceremonies will use gongs and now
Agama Tirta: Water, Water Everywhere
The Balinese revere water. Go to any holy place and you will find water present. Rushing rivers of pure, clear water, small trickling streams, holy springs or water spouts with water issuing forth from some sacred place deep within the earth are always present. In some places, water passes through ancient channels cut deep into
Ngerebeg and the Painted Boys of Tegallalang
Are they getting ready for a major music festival? Are they Vogue models? Is it Halloween? No they are Balinese boys engaged in a traditional ceremony. In Tegallalang and several other districts around Gianyar, the boys paint themselves up a storm before parading down the streets in a ceremony known as Ngerebeg . Before they
Balinese Healers: Meeting a Balian
Ketut stands at the gate of his very Balinese home, waiting to greet us! After asking a dozen friends about healers, I finally hit gold. Ketut, who is known to be an excellent healer, lives in Batuan, one of the more traditional villages on the way to Ubud. He is a balian Usada, that is,
Magical Melukat: Purifying Our Mind, Body & Soul
Lost in the hills of Bangli is one of Bali’s most magical situations. People from all over Bali go to this beautiful spot, hidden behind verdant rice fields to cleanse their souls and bodies and maybe even heal their hearts. Melukat is just one of Bali’s magical rituals which involves using water as a ritual
Maya Spa’s Riverside Oxygen Therapy
After weeks of bumping around the backwoods of India’s far Northeast Province of Nagaland, photographing headhunters and enjoying interesting encounters, it was good to be back in Bali with a rather tired body. I needed a soothing massage and I needed it to be good. So why not go to the upmarket Ubud Maya Resort
Bali’s Beguiling Chinese Temples
Here and there around Bali are gorgeous Chinese temples. Known as klenteng they are mostly old and have seen their share of history and hard times. Indonesia and Bali have long had contact with China. Trade started centuries ago and after time, these traders established small communities which then needed to have a place of
Clearing the Karma: Panca Karma at One World Retreats
Apart from weight loss, and a great shift in well being, other benefits include a clarity of mind that has probably not been experienced since youth. Ayurveda is no crank health system. This Sanskrit word stems from the vedas – a body of knowledge that was handed down to the sages in India some five
Warung Ibu Oka : Behind the Scenes of Ubud’s Famous Babi Guling Hotspot
Long before dawn breaks, and the bright tropical sun sends her fingers of light slanting through Ubud’s lush undergrowth, parts of this mountain community are already awake. In the wee dark hours, people are at work preparing food for the coming day. The most productive of these places is in the open cellar beneath Warung Ibu
Tall Tales of Candidasa
A funny thing happened on the way to Candidasa recently. Away from the relaxed beach life of this old resort area, life goes on in very different ways. Because the very traditional village of Tenganan is just a small detour en route to Candidasa, I decided to drop by and pay a visit. But before
