Coming Clean: The Melukat Cleanse
It’s six thirty am and we are meeting at the carpark of Tirtha Empul, Bali’s most well known holy spring. This Hindu Balinese water temple in the cool highlands founded in 942 AD sees hundreds of visitors a day, coming to do a melukat or ritual cleanse. Surrounded by bathing pools and old growth trees
Tumpek Wayang: The Lord of Puppets Celebrated
The Lord of Puppeteers, Sanghyang Iswara, is honoured when the Balinese Hindus celebrate Tumpek Wayang Day. On this day, puppeteers (Dalang) throughout the island will present offerings to their shadow puppets (wayang kulit) with the intention of honouring the Lord Iswara. The puppets are taken out from their cases to be blessed by their owners and
Hari Raya Kuningan: The Spirits Return to Heaven
10 Days after the Galungan ceremonies in Bali, Hari Raya Kuningan takes place. It marks the end of the full Galungan festival. In the Balinese calendar, Kuningan is in fact the third ‘tumpek’ ceremony of the Balinese year, which takes place on the Saturday of the 12th week of the Pakuwon cycle; it should in fact
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
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
A Balinese Wedding
Getting married, for a Balinese, means a huge life-changing event that begins with a big celebration that can take days. A wedding in Balinese tradition doesn’t only involve love between the couple, but it means making a relationship to the whole extended family as well as the institution that is built based on tradition and
The March of the Barongs
Those friendly, loveable Balinese Barongs get up to all kinds of tricks. This lion like creature holds a most important place in the pantheon of Balinese gods, sacred spirits and mythology and is held in great reverence by every Balinese. For a banjar to own a beautiful barong is a sign of status and much
Odalan: When The God’s Descend
On this wonderful island of the gods, occupied by thousands of temples, one of the most gorgeous celebrations is Odalan. Each temple celebrates its birthday every 210 days with extra large bookings during the full moons of April and October. Each temple is dressed to the hilt. Gold and white are the preferential colours and
Otonan: Birthday Celebrations The Balinese Way
The majority of the world celebrates a typical birthday in accordance with the Roman Calendar where a year consists 12 months and a month consists of 30 or 31 days, the Balinese Hindu have their own distinctive reference of time, which in turn changes when they celebrate a birthday. First of all, a Balinese Hindu
Ngulapin: The Art of Settling Souls
You may have seen, while driving, a white-dressed priest busy uttering some mantra on the side of the road, impervious to traffic. “Crazy,” you might have thought. And you were wrong, because the priest was there with a precise function: to bring meaning and balance to the “order of things”. What you saw was a
Melukat : Purification the Balinese Way
There is an abundance of magical places here on the island, including special holy water temples. Knowing that the Balinese see water as a symbol of life and purification, I thought that it would be the best Balinese method to heal and cleanse my way to wellness. So, I visited Tirta Empul and Tirta Sudamala
The Clandestine Cockfight
You can always tell when a cockfight is going to happen in Bali. The first sign is the beautiful woven bamboo or rattan baskets held tightly on the back of a speeding motorbike as the proud owner makes his way to today’s specially selected spot. The next sign is a huge number of motorbikes crowded
The Big Odalan
It started off sunnily enough. A few of us were invited for the last day of a month long house Piodalan Mempedem Perdagingan Festival – a festival that encompassed the whole extended family as well as the entire village. This celebration was a big one – and the last time it happened was a very
