Nyungsung Betara: The Balinese and Their Gods

The Balinese have a very special relationship with the gods and the unseen world. To truly understand it, put aside for a while all the fantasies you have heard about the One and Only, and be ready for other fantasies—fantasies that, for the Balinese, have the allure of reality. The Hindu Gods In their “system”—which,

The Philosophy of Day and Night in Bali

For most ordinary people, which is in the world out there, it goes without saying that there are 24 hours a day and sixty minutes in an hour. To them, thus, time is a tool, repetitive and familiar. However, that is a far cry from how traditional Balinese circles perceive the same period of time.

Want to Get Rich in Bali? Buy a Bererong

Westerners and modern people have a bad habit when it comes to making money: they have a rational approach to economics. You work, save and invest, and then you will earn X% or more, if lucky, in one or five years. There is little pleasure to be had, and no fear. Many people think that

Lobangkara: The Balinese Ikarus

Once upon a time, there lived in the village of Kamasan, just on the outskirts of Klungkung, a talented painter by the name of Lobangkara. Painting was his whole life, and so he spent all his time at it, heedless of what people said and of the way the world went around him. The world

The Temple of the Murdered Man

People have misconceptions about Balinese religion. Many see it as strictly Hindu. It may be so in children’s school books, which emphasises classical Hindu-Indian cosmology, but this is a “fundamentalist” evolution. The Balinese may refer once in a while to Hindu gods, but the daily ritual life is dominated by the worship of ancestors of

Ngiring: Accompanied by the Gods

‘Ngiring: Accompanied by the Gods’, is Part One of a two-part article on trance in Bali by Jean Couteau. Make sure to read NOW! Bali’s September-October 2023 edition for Part Two. Balinese religion is a complicated thing. You have what the school books and the Parisada Hindu organisation teach you: The unity of the godly

I Gusti Nyoman Darta: Following the Lines of Lempad

If you are a fanatic of Bali, you will be interested by the character of I Gusti Nyoman Darta. He had an early life typical of the feudal system of the days. Barely 5, he was entrusted by his father to one of the princes of Ubud, Tjokorde Ngurah Puri Saren. He took the mantle

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Bali’s ‘Wayang Week’ and Stories of Time the Devourer 

If there is an Indonesian form of art that is of international repute and calls to mind the notion of a “magic show”, this is undoubtedly the shadow play or puppet show theatre: the “wayang”. The trembling shadows of ancestral figures dancing on a white screen as they are shaped and unshaped by a flickering

Ramadan, and the Upholding of Tolerance in Bali

The holy month of Ramadan begins on 23 March. So, it is a perfect occasion to ponder about the way religious tolerance functions (or mis-functions) in Bali. I am using these two words because it is part of conventional wisdom – or rather of conventional politics —to assess that religious tolerance is a given reality.

Now Bali
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