You will have to shoulder it yourself, should you decide to be an outcast. Along with other families in the village, you participate in meetings. You may play an instrument in the orchestra, or dance in the ceremonies. The women prepare the offerings, for their little shrines or for the village’s offering to the Mother Temple of Besakih.

If a child in a family is having his tooth filed, the rest of the village’s women will help cook and prepare, and the men help erect a stage and decorate the house. In short, life in Bali is never alone.

You can observe this even in little children. As their parents go to plant rice, the children – all seem to be in their best behavior – play with their age group. The older ones will care for the younger ones. Fights rarely occur, and loud screams or cries are even scarcer. As if they have been taught to be at harmony with their surroundings.

The Balinese also has a built in population control mechanism through their naming structure. In Bali, all first child is named Wayan, second child is Made, the third child is Nyoman, and the fourth, or the last, is Ketut. If you have more than four? Well, the Balinese seem to have understood modulo arithmetic, so it’s back to Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut, repeat. But implicitly, the culture discourages having more than four children.

Though originating from India, the brand of Hinduism known and practiced in Bali differs significantly from the one found in India. Instead of mysticism or philosophy, the emphasis of Bali’s Hinduism is more in rituals and dramatic features, allowing the religion and its practice to be incorporated into daily life of Balinese peasants.

These rituals and dramatic features have been intricately woven into the lives of Balinese to the extent that one cannot separate the religious life of Bali from its daily life. In fact, one can say every little action of a Balinese has some religious connotation; stone and wood carvings, cremation ceremony, trance dances, vibrant music – all are intended to please the gods and the goddesses. These rituals most often take place in a temple, the most important structure in the Balinese culture.

The origin of the Barongs is obscure, but the generally accepted theory is that they are derived from animal spirits, chosen by societies who seek their protection. The people of these societies may believe that their ancestors were certain animals, or may believe that an animal was aided by their ancestors, and in order to repay the debt, the animal has agreed to protect succeeding generations.

The Barong is a powerful, protective, spirit, whose origin dates far back in time to ancient animism practised before the advent of Hinduism in Bali. Most Barong figures are animals, the most famous of which is the Barong Ket, a combination of a lion and tiger. The roles of the Barong Ket and other animal Barongs are performed by two people, one wearing the mask and the other wearing the costume. The other type of Barong are the Barong Landung, giant puppets, wearing masks and manipulated by a single performer.

The function of the Barong characters is to guard the borders of the village, and detect and drive out demons at certain auspicious times. A lively procession, replete with gamelan orchestra and the people of the community, bedecked in their finest traditional dress, drives away the evil spirits, often culminating at the sea, which is believed to be the home of the bhutas and kalas or low spirits. The barong mask and the costume also appears on Hindu temple altars during temple festivals where they are heaped high with offerings and incense and worshipped by the villagers.

Mepantigan

Practitioners of Mepantigan gain physical fitness, release stress, and learn valuable lessons in camaraderie and sportsmanship. In addition to physical skills, strength, and agility, both emotional and spiritual intelligences are utilized.

According to Putu Witsen Widjaya, the founder and senior teacher of Bali Mepantigan Arts and a martial arts champion, students of Mepantigan evolve as human beings and avoid violence while cultivating compassion.

As he observed, “Wherever proper martial arts develop, evil will diminish and a respect for others will grow. This is particularly true for those who practice Mepantigan, which is a celebration of the spirit”.

Jauk dance is a classical solo performance expressing the movements of a demon, Jauk is derived from a traditional play in which all the dancers, wearing frightening masks of the raksasa or demon type, enacted episodes from the Kawi versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata Like the dramatic Baris.

The harsh stare of the eyes, the thick, black moustache, and frozen smile give the masked Jauk dancer an uncanny effect of being from another world, populated by fearsome practitioners of evil. He wears a high, tasseled crown covering a thick mass of tangled hair, and gloves with long transparent fingernails that flitter incessantly to the music. As a mask dance.

Jauk is considered a high art to execute well. The dancer’s aim is to express the character revealed in the appearance of the mask-that of a strong, forceful personality.

Unlike the Baris dancer, a Jauk performer cannot rely on powerful facial expressions to convey feeling. He can dart his artificial looks here and there, but he is obliged to express his demoniac exuberance through his gestures alone. (The round, protruding eyes and tentacle like fingernails are the marks of identification for a demon.)
The Jauk dancer’s movements closely resemble those of the Baris. but his manner is more exaggerated and violent. He peers out to his audience like a crouching cat ready to leap upon its prey.

Suddenly he lunges, the music becomes frenetic with loud, clashing sounds, he spins to reach the perimeter of the stage: then stops, precise and controlled only the constant shimmering of the tassels and finger¬nails mirror his intensity. Slowly, he retreats, as if preoccupied by dark, treacherous thoughts.

And if his audience in the first rows are little children, they breathe a sigh of relief.

In the town of Batubulan there are at least 4 stages known so far, but the most active with daily schedule of performance are only 3 which location is close each other. Their location is distributed within 3 km street of the main road that leading from Denpasar to Gianyar city. These 3 Barong dance stages known to have also enough space for parking the car or buses. One stage is just on the side of the road known as Barong Den Jalan, one is performed at the meeting hall of a temple called Pura Puseh, deep inside the town among the rice terrace yet now there are already many houses for local people also, and the other is performed at the house of a local people which is set up as beautiful traditional Balinese stage for traditional dances. All stages are made in traditional Balinese stages, with typical decoration, moated brick wall and entrance at some places, and typical temple and Balinese meeting hall architecture.
Barong dance which is also known as Barong dan Kriss dance is a mixed of Balinese traditional dance, drama and music. The most beautiful woman dance such as Legong Keraton is also presented in other dress attire as the opening or introduction of the dance. Usually by 2 girls followed by Balinese traditional music called Gong. Most Barong dance performance taking the theme of the performance from Mahabharata Epic, especially the period of Nakula and Sahadewa. The story is correlated with the struggle between the benevolence and bad spirit. The story presented for Barong dance has been strongly influenced by the school of Tantrayana Buddhist. This is shown by the personalization of good spirit with Barong dance, a creature resembling a tiger, and the bad spirit by a witch with ugly physical appearance, even frightening. The whole plot of the of the performance is always inserted with the moments of dialog between both the main figures and the servants or jokes. The music is played to strengthen or downturn the tension of the situation among the figures. So this type of performance can be said it is a mixed performance between dance, drama and clown.

Performance Stages
The dance is started at 9.30 AM with the rhythmic of Balinese traditional music called Gong. After 5 or 10 minutes the melody of Gong change suddenly and from the screen appear 2 girls with Balinese traditional beautiful dressing. These 2 girls perform the most feminism dance, showing how beautiful is the body of women and their ability to move very flexibly, following the tension and downturn of the music. Finalizing the dance, the Prime Minister of the kingdom of Ayodya Pura appears on the stage, expressing his difficult position in the kingdom as the Princess wish to sacrifice her 2 youngest sons to the king of Demon.

The Prime Minister is getting pressure from high dignitaries to refuse the plan of the Princess, and is ordered to present before the Princess expressing the reason that the sacrifice is not necessary. Yet the people have been to much suffering from the disease and malicious action of the demon if the sons are not sacrificed. It is a great dilemma for the Princes, weather she should depend her sons or the people. With the explanation the Prime Minister promise to the Princess that he will do his utmost to fight the demon and safe the people and the young princess. Following the disappearance of Prime Minister and the Princess from the stage appear the servants of the Demon with ugly faces performing disoriented dances. This is to show how frightening is the existence of a demon with it’s servants.

Here the two main clowns appear on the stage and fight the demon servants. Most Barong dance have good clowns, as this part is actually the most interesting for the people who are able to make people laughing with her action on the stage. for those who do not even understand the language they spoken on the stage. The defeat of Demon servant following by the appearance of Princess with the Prime Minister again in a quarrel for disagreement of the scarification of the youngest sons. Yet the king of Demon knows the conflict and soon send magic influence to the Prime Minister and change their mind to agree.

Then the Prime Minister drag the 2 sons to be tied on a tree in the forest to be sacrificed to the king of Demon. As soon as Prime Minister left the boys in the forest the king of Demon appear on the stage which is called Rangda. The appearance of Rangda is really frightening in the perception of Balinese. Long fangs and teeth, big and long breasts, curling and messy long hair, hand nails are arching and long. With short dance by the player of Rangda, then she soon approach the tied son, yet suddenly the holy spirit of Bhatara Guru presence and safe the boys. In the situation of really disoriented, the Barong appear on the stage fight the Rangda. No one of them can defeat each other, and soon the servant of Barong around 10 or more men in checquered cloth appear with kriss on hand to defeat Rangda.

Yet due to her strong magic power Rangda spread the invisible power to servants. Since they are stirred by the magic, they in contrary stab themselves with their own Kriss. Some of the servants got trance and other still dancing while stabbing themselves seriously as it is seemed to be. A Pemangku or local priest with all white dress then appear with holy water and spread the holy water to the trance servants. Condition is now returned to normal, and the dance is finalized, with the total change of the melody of the music. Most of the guests come down to the dancers standing on the stage to get photo together.

Because the Balinese perceive death not as an end but as a new beginning, a cremation is a time of joyous celebration, the greatest day in a person’s life. The ‘ngaben’ ritual is the last and most important rite a family can perform for a loved one. Failure to free the soul by neglecting a cremation, or by incomplete or improper rites, renders the soul into a ghost who will wreak havoc on its neglectful descendants.

For hundreds of years, cremation was a privilege of the noble classes, but today it is estimated 10-30% of all Hindu Balinese cremates their dead. Except for the disappearance of suttee, the practice of widows immolating themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands (the last occurred in 1903), Balinese ‘ngaben’ rites haven’t changed significantly in well over 300 years. However, the quality and elaborate nature of ceremonies performed today are more determined by the underwriting of overseas film units than by the fees paid to high priests. A priest’s main job is to consecrate the deceased and his effigy with holy water, cleanse the body before cremation, and write letters of introduction (ratnyadana) to open the doors of heaven for the soul. Only high Brahman priests may officiate at cremations of the highborn, and only the poor would hire a lesser ranking ‘pemangku’.

Pre-Burial and Preparation
The signal of death in a house is a coconut-oil lamp hung from a long bamboo pole high over the roof. During the period before cremation, the soul of the deceased is thought to be agitated, longing for release, and the lamp enables the wandering spirit to find its way home in the dark.

On the first auspicious day after death, the body is prepared for purification and pre-burial. If the cremation is to take place quickly and the body to remain in the house, it may be mummified. If necessary, the teeth are filed. While prayers and mantras are recited, the corpse is rubbed with a mixture of sandalwood powder, salt, turmeric, rice-flour, and vinegar. The hands are bound and folded over on the breast in the gesture of prayer. Mirror-glass is placed on the eyelids, slivers of steel on the teeth, a gold ring in the mouth, jasmine flowers in the nostrils, and iron nails on the limbs, all to ensure a more perfect rebirth with “eyes as bright as mirrors, teeth like steel, breath as fragrant as flowers, and bones of iron.” An egg is rolled over the body, and the corpse then wrapped in many meters of white cloth.

If the cremation will be postponed and it’s decided the cadaver will be buried and not mummified, the corpse is carried to the graveyard accompanied by chanting relatives bearing offerings. The body is then buried, often simply wrapped in cloth and placed directly on the earth. Open mourning is forbidden; a weeping child is sent out of the cemetery. The body will lie buried until it is burned. A small bamboo altar is erected next to the grave and offerings brought to it daily for 12 days. Forty-two days after death more offerings are placed, at which time it’s believed the soul has fled the body.

The expense of a cremation ceremony can be staggering. With hundreds of callers to feed, entertain, and keep supplied with cigarettes for as long as a week, a special ‘gamelan’ ensemble required, and priest’s and assistant’s fees, an elaborate mass cremation can easily cost eight to 12 million rupiah. It takes 2 million rupiah alone to take down power lines so that cremation towers can pass underneath. But for this spectacular send-off – the life goal of every Balinese – a family is prepared to make sacrifices. One of the kings of southern Bali killed in the mass suicide in Denpasar in 1906 wasn’t officially cremated until 28 years after his death. Only then was the family at last able to accumulate enough wealth to give him a proper departure befitting his high rank. Among people of the lower castes, the extravagant cost has produced a tendency to forget to open the grave of long-dead relatives and perform the overdue cremation. Apparently, the risk of the deceased soul haunting the living, requiring constant appeasement with offerings, just doesn’t frighten the survivors the way it used to.

The Procession
Days before the cremation, relatives “reawaken” the deceased by opening the grave. The remains are cleaned and wrapped in a white sacral cloth and taken to the cremation grounds to await the arrival of the coffin containing the effigy, which takes the place of the actual bones. Bones buried in unclean ground may never enter the family compound. On the morning of the cremation, relatives and friends visit the house to pay their respects.

When all the guests have partaken of a lavish banquet, the village ‘kulkul’ is sounded to begin the final march to the cremation grounds. Incited by the climactic rhythms of the ‘gamelan’, members of the dead man’s ‘banjar’ rush into the home and lift the corpse from its stretcher and hoist it, by way of an elaborate decorated stairway (raren), onto a soaring decorated wood and bamboo tower (bade) supported on a bamboo substructure. The tall bade is a fantastic Christmas tree-like creation beautifully decorated with tinsel, paper ornaments, flowers, glittering mirrors, and expensive fabrics. Since height is considered holy, the higher the tower, the higher the rank of the deceased. Towers for wealthy Ksatriya may attain heights of 20 or more meters, though the pervasive power lines of the island mean the really tall towers of the past are seldom seen today.

For the more elaborate funeral, such as one for a prince, as many as three shifts of 100 men may be required to carry the heavily decorated funeral tower in a tumultuous, setting parade for two or three kilometers to the burning site. A venerable high priest may ride in a sedan chair at the top of the tower, accompanying the mummy; there may even be space provided in front for a small ‘angklung’ orchestra.

The villagers line up, each with something to carry holy water, ritual accessories, and pyramids of food offerings piled high on their heads. A single, smoothly flowing line of colorfully dressed women leads the parade, carrying a long white cloth attached to the coffin; this “towrope” symbolizes their assistance in transporting the coffin. Men follow, carrying roasted quail and rabbits on sticks The procession moves boisterously amid clouds of dust and fireworks, in an uproar of music, yelling, and hooting, handfuls of old Chinese coins scattered at the participants’ feet. It’s important the parade be bustling, crowded, and noisy-this shows the funeral has achieved large-scale public recognition. Chaos reigns especially around the tower, as relatives struggle to carry the body, each striving to prove loyalty to the deceased. The tower is spun on top of the bearers’ shoulders to confuse the soul and prevent it from finding its way back to its house, where it might make mischief for the living. Since evil spirits may be following, seeking to pilfer the soul, the procession might cross a stream, because spirits hate to get their feet wet, or zigzag down the main street, to confuse the corner-impaired creatures. Finally, the near-stampede streams onto the cremation grounds.

The Burning
The cremation grounds are usually located near the temple of the dead in the cemetery just outside the village. In the center of the grounds stands an animal-shaped sarcophagus, the appropriate figure determined by the caste of the deceased: a bull for a Brahman male, a cow for a Brahman woman, a winged lion for the Ksatriya class, a mythological half-elephant, half-fish (gadjamina) for a lower-class Sudra. Once hewn of tree trunks, these coffins are now constructed of bamboo and plaster. Access is gained through a lid in the back. The entire coffin is draped with velvet or other expensive cloth and decorated with gold leaf, silk scarves, and cotton wool. Sometimes the Balinese rig the bull-shaped sarcophagus so its sexual organs become distended and red with bloods when someone pulls a hidden string.

When the cremation tower reaches the burning site, a lengthy white shroud (kajang) is attached to the body. Held over everyone’s heads, the corpse is led by the ‘kajang’ down from the tower and placed inside the coffin. The fragile, pagoda-like tower, no longer of any use, is tipped over and stripped of all valuables. A sea of fingers then passes ritual items up to be placed on the coffin. Family members huddle together to take one last look at their loved one, then a high priest climbs up on the platform to recite prayers over the body. Pots of holy water are poured over the corpse, then shattered on the ground. Hundreds of old Chinese coins are showered over the body as ransom to Yama, the Lord of the Underworld. After all the precious materials are piled on top, the high priest ignites the fuel under the pyre. In the span of a few seconds, the splendid tower-coffin, offerings, decorations-is engulfed in flames, hundreds of thousands of rupiah going up in smoke in one last wild extravagant gesture. The Balinese believe that the soul is lifted to heaven on the column of smoke.

Westerners find it curious how the Balinese treat the body of a dead relative. While the soul is regarded as all-important, the body is considered a foul, contaminated object to be dispensed with at the first opportunity. At cremations men clobber burning bodies with bamboo poles in order to break them up so they burn better. Corpses are unceremoniously prodded by relatives who make raucous jokes, mocking the body for not burning fast enough so they can all go home. As the fire subsides, the ‘pedanda’ climbs the elevated platform and utters a few ‘mantra’, ringing a bell to hasten the soul’s journey to heaven. The eldest son rakes the ashes to make sure all the flesh is burned.

Water is poured over the embers, and children are allowed to poke through the hot muddy ashes for coins and trinkets. The white bone ash is carefully separated from the wood ash. Sometimes the remaining, blackened bones are piled into a small mound, then placed in a clay vessel or coconut shell. Carried on a richly decorated sedan chair, the ashes will eventually be borne in another disorderly, laughing procession to the sea or to a nearby seagoing river, where they are set adrift, finally freeing the soul. A small ‘prahu’ is sometimes used to carry ashes out past the reefs so they won’t wash ashore.

This act represents the final purification and disposal of the material body, the ultimate purification of the triple cleansing cycle of earth, fire, and water. Later, there are private, often quite elaborate ceremonies for the care of the soul. In these rites the soul takes its rightful, honored place as one of the family ancestral deities installed in a special shrine in the family temple. Twelve to 42 days after the burning, offerings and powerful incantations are made on the soul’s behalf. Wealthier families even construct a second tower at this time, nearly as elaborate as the cremation tower.

Attending a Cremation
Westerners are welcome to attend the cremation festivities, which may last several days. The Balinese don’t sell tickets to their cremations, but they sell transport to the ceremonies. In tourist resorts you’ll see signs announcing the event, as well as the address and telephone number of the transport agency. The local tourist office also knows when and where cremations take place. Some don’t need advertising: the 1993 funeral for the last raja of Gianyar drew 50,000 people, almost two percent of the total Balinese population. Wear a sash around the waist while attending a cremation.

Saurce from www.balivision.com

Based on the history of its birth of Saka Year, Nyepi Day also means to be a momentum to increase genuine solidarity and tolerance between people, accept the differences and similarity as natural factor of life and put them in a balance proportion so they can be in a positive side of life. We do not to fight each other because our differences. There are four mandatory religious prohibitions called Catur Brata Penyepian that should be followed by common Hindu people in Bali.

The prohibitions include :

• amati geni or no fire,
• amati karya or no work,
• amati lelanguan or no entertainment and pleasure,
• amati lelungan or no travelling.

These prohibitions help people to control their five earthy senses by mind and wisdom in order to increase the quality of life for the upcoming year. For people with higher spiritual ability or willing to have higher spiritual life are expected to perform further prohibitions include fasting by not eating or drinking, stay still by not talking, meditating by focusing the mind to the God and praying.

baris the warrior dance

Baris, atraditional wardance, glorifies the man hood of the triumphant Balinese warrior. The word baris means a line orfile, in the sense of a line of soldiers, and referred to the warriors who fought for the kings of Bali.

the dance accompanied by gamelan gong.

The relation between dancer and orchestra is an intimate one, since the gamelan must be entirely attuned to the changing moods of the warrior’s imperious will. The dancer enters the stage-a field of action where he will display the sublimity of his commanding presence. At first, his movements are studied and careful, as if he were seeking out foes in an unfamiliar place.

Galungan festival

Galungan to the Balinese, is the most important holiday period as it symbolizes the victory of Dharma, or Virtue, upon Adharma, or all that is Evil. The festivities are made extra special by the fitting of ‘penjor’ on the right side of the entrance to every house.

A penjor is a tall bamboo pole terrifically decorated with woven young coconut leaves, cakes, fruits and flowers; and also a must for every Balinese household. The Galungan also sees the Balinese decked in their finest clothes and jewels for the day.

The last day of the 10-day festival is the most important day. Known as Kuningan, it is the climax of the ten-day Galungan, and also serves to bringing the holiday period to a close. Kuningan is a day for prayer, and a special ritual ceremony is held for the spirits of the Balinese’s ancestors.

Just as the Galugan ends with a day of symbolic prayer, its beginning is marked by Pagerwesi. Pagerwesi literally means ‘iron fence’, and on Pagerwesi day every year, ceremonies and prayers are held in supplication for iron-strong mental and spiritual defense in welcoming the Galungan holiday.