22. I took a “Hinduism in Bali” Class
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| Open Living Area of Balinese Home (Area Where We Had Lunch is the Separate Building on the Right) |
It bugged me that I had lived here in Bali for
some weeks but could not understand the basic needs or understandings of a
Balinese life. Living in a hotel is not like living in a regular neighborhood.
I wanted to see how normal people live, see where they shop for daily food,
etc.
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| Family Member Carving Masks to Sell |
Uma Sari’s Echa told us about a man who would
drive us around Ubud, showing us more about how people cope with their daily
chores. He promised to get us entrance into a regular Bali house, into
workshops, into kitchens, a gold or silver smith, etc. The man’s fees were
450,000 Rupiah each or let’s say US$ 60 for the 2 of us for the day.
He picked us up at our Hotel and drove us
straight to a family enclave; a private residence on the other side of town. Mind
you, it was a Balinese house, and not at all comparable to a house in NJ.
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| This Will Be a Beautiful Mask |
The most important part of a Balinese house is the
shrine where the ancestors are revered. When a new house is built the very
first building activity is this part of the new house, kind of like a holy area
with altars or seats for the gods.
A Balinese home owner believes in different
gods, each god he believes in gets a seat or altar in this shrine.
But above all else there MUST be a throne or
seat (Padmasana is the lotus
position but also an old name for a throne) built for Sanghyang Widi Wasa first (the all in one god).
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| Alter to Sanghyang Widi Wasa |
This most important god gets accommodated first
before all the other gods, before any other building is started. There is no
statue of any god in this altar area of the house, just a ‘throne’ (or seat, or
shrine, or a place to sit) where the god can rest or sit when he comes to visit
on Earth. In Indian Hinduism this god might be called Brahman. Here in Bali
this highest God is called Sanghyang Widi Wasa. Sanghyang Widi Wasa created all
the other gods, so he must be first.
And this Sanghyang Widi Wasa altar section is always
in the most north east corner of the residence.
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| Shrine to Their Ancestors |
The rest of the property, once these altars (or
thrones) are built, have buildings and lean-tos or palapas for each specific
function. There is the sleeping building, kitchen building, and entertainment building,
all with separate functions. The most ornately decorated areas are always in
the center of the property and this is where the priest sits when he comes to
visit. All these areas combined are called a ‘house’ in Bali. Many, if not most,
of the Balinese houses are walled or at least fenced in.
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| Most Ornate Area Reserved for the Priest When He Visits |
When we visited we were served, according to Balinese etiquette, food and drink. We were given a glass of water
and hot steamed banana,
wrapped in a banana leaf and rice with banana in the center and wrapped in a long
strand of palm leaf. It’s ceremonial and the serving was nicely decorated, but
it’s a must do when one has visitors.
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| Rice With Banana Inside Being Unwrapped |
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| Hot Steamed Banana Wrapped in a Banana Leaf |
One corner of the enclave was set up as a
silver shop where the silversmith was teaching an American woman how to make a
silver ring. He was a family member and his workshop was right on the premises,
It was just him and the woman, a one on one class. The woman received his full
attention and when I spoke to her a bit later on, she was very happy with the
way things went in her ‘silver-smithing’.
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| Some Had Great Fun Being Purified |
After we had this deeper understanding how a
family lives in Bali, we were taken to the Water Temple Tirta Empul (again); the
same Temple where we waded into the water fountains to bless ourselves and wash
away all of our illnesses, past, present and future. Only this time we totally
disregarded this pool section (except for a few pictures) and kind of felt sorry for the folks who needed
the help of the gods fighting their illnesses.
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| Hans With Sarong and Our Guide |
We, our guide, Carol and I, deliberately moved
on to the offering sections of the Temple where a priest greeted us. Our Guide
slipped him some money and we received an extensive blessing.
But… of course… before we could enter the holy
section of this Temple we had to wear a special sarong with a cummerbund. Carol
had to wear one, too even though she did not sit on the floor with me, getting
the blessing I so needed.
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| Priest Is Adding Our Flowers to the Offering Alter |
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| He Has Been Blessed |
I went through the ritualized movements described
by my guide and put some sticky rice on my forehead and on my lower throat. Our
guide had bought some flowers, which had to be blessed by the priest and then
were placed on the collection altar, near representations of a deity. All was
done with the utmost sincerity, with a devotional attitude by all, yes,
including me.
Who am I to know anything?
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| The Royal Palace Up on the Hill |
No picture taking was allowed during this
ceremony.
This special Water Temple (Tirta Empul) sits in
a valley and the daily rituals in the temple can be watched from above by the
Royal House occupants who still have some influence over many things in Bali. A
Royal Palace still exists high up on a hill with a view down into the temple
complex. Yes, you are being watched while in this temple, even though you might
not know it.
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| This Evil Spirit is a Devourer of Children |
I guess good behavior is what they, the Royals
watch for. Good behaviour is always a perfect way in any
society and will be rewarded, I’m told.
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| More Shrines to Other Gods |
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| An Ornate Throne for a High Priest |
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| Source of the Holy Water Is a Spring Flowing Into This Pool (Cloudy Area on the Left) |
After I was now blessed, we went back to the
car and the Guide drove us to a lunch spot named the De Koi Restaurant (Koi is
a carp fish but also an Old Dutch tea pot) on the side of a busy road. The name
tells me it must have been an Old Dutch neighborhood, yet the area is still
covered with lots of plots that actively grow rice.
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| Plowing a Rice Field |
We were offered a place to eat our lunch
Indonesian style, sitting on the floor, and eating from a very low table or off
the floor. Carol and I looked at each other and then told the guide we have to
pass on that. Crawling around the floor is no longer an activity one can do at
our ages. So we sat in a nice area at a regular western table and watched
others eat Balinese style, sitting back on their heels, using their hands to eat
the food.
Yes, I know, what we did is not authentic, but
we ate well.
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| Same Field But a Change in Worker - Egrets Happy With Their Find |
Our view at the lunch spot was a small river containing
Koi fish (hence the restaurant’s name?) and just across the rivulet was a rice
field. The field was being prepared, plowed for the next harvest. In years past
this ‘plowing’ would have been done with oxen, today it was a walk behind
tractor that did the hard labor. The farmer, operating the tractor, was walking almost
knee deep in muddy water, or even walking in mud. It took him close to an hour
to just plow this smallish field. White egrets were crowding the farmer,
scooting behind the plow to grab anything edible that the plowing brought to
the surface.
While the whole scene looked idyllic, I know
this part of working on a farm is hard labor. Or is it harder work planting
each rice plant? I don’t know, I never
did this kind of work, but I did plow a field once, using oxen, when I was
young. I know plowing with oxen is not easy.
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| The Pizza Place Has Great Pizza But Also Many Other Choices |
The original time given to us was 3 hours for
this tour; we managed, without trying, to make it last 5 hours. No extra
charges were asked for. We thanked our Guide and he dropped us off at Uma Sari
again. It was about 3 PM when we got back and we were lucky, wow did it rain at
about 4 PM.
See, the blessings I received in the Temple and
the flowers as a gift to the gods did help. We did not get wet at all. Even
dinner, next door in the Pizza place again, was good. Someone just stopped the
rain long enough for us to walk over, eat and then walk back before it rained
again…all night.
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| A Penjor |
Ah, we asked our rather ‘religious’ guide what
the Penjor was for, the long, bent
bamboo poles we see here and there. Our guide explained it like this article in the
link above. I am sure after you read it, you’ll understand all about a Penjor,
too.
