Friday, February 12, 2010
Nyepi - The Silence Day
Nyepi is important day as this is the Balinese Lunar New Year called "Saka" New Year. It is a day of total silent through the island. No physical activity is allowed, there can no be traffic at all on the roads, no fire may be lit and no amusement held all day long until next morning. Great purification and sacrificial rites are held the day before Nyepi so as to exorcize evil spirits from every corner of the village. Nyepi falls on the first day after the new moon closest to the March equinox, usually in March to early April.
Galungan & Kuningan
Galungan is the most important holiday. This symbolizes the victory of virtue (dharma) over evil (adharma). On Galungan every family puts a "penjor" a tall bamboo pole, placed on the right side of the entrance to the house compound. Each penjor is decorated with woven coconut leaves, fruit, cakes, flower and other the gifts of nature. People attire themselves in their finest traditional clothing and jewels to wear to their temple and over thanks.
Kuningan holiday takes place 10 (ten) days after Galungan, bringing the holiday period to a close. On this day, special ritual ceremonies are held for the ancestral spirits.
Kuningan holiday takes place 10 (ten) days after Galungan, bringing the holiday period to a close. On this day, special ritual ceremonies are held for the ancestral spirits.
Kecak
The dark expanse of the banyan tree above the temple gate casts a dense shadow on the courtyard and the carvings that flicker like apparitions in the uneven light. A serpentine stream of bodies coils itself, circle within circle, around a large, branching torch. Two hemispheres of men: one, a pattern of silhouettes; th other, sculptural faces of brown skin caught in a net of torchlight. The half-seen multitude waits in silence. A priest enters with offerings, a blessing of holy water. One piercing voice cracks the suspense; the circle electrifies.
No other dance is so unnerving as the amazing Kecak: one hundred and fifty men who, by a regimented counterplay of sounds, simulate the orchestration of the gamelan. Kecak, a name indicating the "chak-a-chak" sounds, evolved from the male chorus of the ritual Sanghyang trance ceremony. By a choreography ingeniously simple, chorus is transfigured into ecstasy. The annihilation of the individual, the cries, the erratic pulse of sound and sublimated violence of the Kecak are perfectly contained in the precise use of a few basic motions of head, arms and torso. Through a coordination rehearsed for months prior to a performance, various parts of the dance merge in a startling continuum of grouped motion and voice. Many words and gestures have no meaning other than as derivatives of incantations to drive out evil, as was the original purpose of the Sanghyang chorus.
Kecaks include a drama, in which the circle of light around the torch becomes a stage, and its periphery of men, a living theatre with all dramatic effects. Accompanied by the bizarre music of human instruments, the storyteller relates the episode enacted within the performance, usually one drawn from Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana. When demon-king Rawana leaps to the center, the chorus simulates his flight with a long hissing sound. When Hanoman enters the mystic circle, the men become an army of chattering monkeys-hence, the nickname "Monkey Dance".
No other dance is so unnerving as the amazing Kecak: one hundred and fifty men who, by a regimented counterplay of sounds, simulate the orchestration of the gamelan. Kecak, a name indicating the "chak-a-chak" sounds, evolved from the male chorus of the ritual Sanghyang trance ceremony. By a choreography ingeniously simple, chorus is transfigured into ecstasy. The annihilation of the individual, the cries, the erratic pulse of sound and sublimated violence of the Kecak are perfectly contained in the precise use of a few basic motions of head, arms and torso. Through a coordination rehearsed for months prior to a performance, various parts of the dance merge in a startling continuum of grouped motion and voice. Many words and gestures have no meaning other than as derivatives of incantations to drive out evil, as was the original purpose of the Sanghyang chorus.
Kecaks include a drama, in which the circle of light around the torch becomes a stage, and its periphery of men, a living theatre with all dramatic effects. Accompanied by the bizarre music of human instruments, the storyteller relates the episode enacted within the performance, usually one drawn from Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana. When demon-king Rawana leaps to the center, the chorus simulates his flight with a long hissing sound. When Hanoman enters the mystic circle, the men become an army of chattering monkeys-hence, the nickname "Monkey Dance".
Barong and Keris Dance
This is the story of the endless metaphysical battle between good and evil which is symbolically re-enacted by two weird characters, barong and rangda, who by their very performed reinforce the magic power of the village and restore the balance between these two contrary force.
Barong is a strange creature that dance by two man inside a highly decorated framework that represents a stylised animal, often a kind Chinese lion. Barong adversary is Queen of the witches, un ugly creature with a long tongue, fangs and pendulous breasts.
The two opposite forces that Barong and Rangda portray as they fight is enough to send the followers of the Barong into trance as they try to attack Rangda with their Keris. But Rangda's magical power turns their keris away and toward themselves. Barong's power saves them from harm and the result is draw. And this is a mortal fight.
Barong is a strange creature that dance by two man inside a highly decorated framework that represents a stylised animal, often a kind Chinese lion. Barong adversary is Queen of the witches, un ugly creature with a long tongue, fangs and pendulous breasts.
The two opposite forces that Barong and Rangda portray as they fight is enough to send the followers of the Barong into trance as they try to attack Rangda with their Keris. But Rangda's magical power turns their keris away and toward themselves. Barong's power saves them from harm and the result is draw. And this is a mortal fight.
Uluwatu Temple
Legend says that the lump of lime stone found on the location of the temple is the metamorphosis of the Lake Goddess or the Water Goddess.
Uluwatu temple and its neighborhood is supposed to be built around the eleventh century, the same time as when Empu Kuturan (one of Hindu holy high priests coming to Bali) built some shrines within the mother temple, Besakih. This location was chosen by high priest Dangyang Nirartha to achieve "Moksa" (to unite with God almighty).
The bush surrounding the temples occupied by groups of monkeys protected by the locals nearby.
Uluwatu temple is located on the cliff of coral hill, the most southern tip of Bali. The area belongs to Pecatu village, district of Kuta, the regency of Badung. It is about 30km from Denpasar. The beach is best for surfing all the year round, however since the soil is so barren that fresh water is scarce to be found.
There is an extensive parking lot avaliable close to the temple as well as souvenir shops and little restaurant.
Uluwatu temple and its neighborhood is supposed to be built around the eleventh century, the same time as when Empu Kuturan (one of Hindu holy high priests coming to Bali) built some shrines within the mother temple, Besakih. This location was chosen by high priest Dangyang Nirartha to achieve "Moksa" (to unite with God almighty).
The bush surrounding the temples occupied by groups of monkeys protected by the locals nearby.
Uluwatu temple is located on the cliff of coral hill, the most southern tip of Bali. The area belongs to Pecatu village, district of Kuta, the regency of Badung. It is about 30km from Denpasar. The beach is best for surfing all the year round, however since the soil is so barren that fresh water is scarce to be found.
There is an extensive parking lot avaliable close to the temple as well as souvenir shops and little restaurant.
Tirta Empul
Tirta Empul, one of the holiest temples in Bali. Located at Tampak Siring in the regency of Gianyar. The name means "crystal clear stream" and indeed, a stream runs through it. But the star attractions here are the hot springs tat bubble eerily in the central courtyard.
According to legend, when the evil king Mayadenawa oppressed Bali and banned all the religious rites, the locals secretly prayed for the God of War, Indra, to come rescue them. Indra duly appeared with a cohort of heavenly troops and Mayadenawa fled before the sight, but he snuck back during the night and poisoned the water that Indra's army drank from. The army duly fell sick, but when Indra notice this, he created the springs of Tirta Empul and used it to heal his troops, who resumed their battle with Mayadenawa and eventually managed to kill him. The tyrant's death is commemorated in the yearly festival of Galungan, when the sacred Barong Lion dance masks are bathed in the healing waters of Tirta Empul, and the Balinese themselves come here to bathe and purify themselves physically and spiritually.
While archaeologist have dated the complex back to 960, in earthquake-prone Bali the buildings are all modern reconstructions. Visitors are not allowed beyond the man courtyard, but from here you could access the bathing pools and visit all the main shrines to Brahma, Shiva, Krishna, and of course, Indra himself. The toughest gauntlet, though, awaits when you leave - the only way out to back to the parking lot leads through a labyrinth of souvenirs shops.
According to legend, when the evil king Mayadenawa oppressed Bali and banned all the religious rites, the locals secretly prayed for the God of War, Indra, to come rescue them. Indra duly appeared with a cohort of heavenly troops and Mayadenawa fled before the sight, but he snuck back during the night and poisoned the water that Indra's army drank from. The army duly fell sick, but when Indra notice this, he created the springs of Tirta Empul and used it to heal his troops, who resumed their battle with Mayadenawa and eventually managed to kill him. The tyrant's death is commemorated in the yearly festival of Galungan, when the sacred Barong Lion dance masks are bathed in the healing waters of Tirta Empul, and the Balinese themselves come here to bathe and purify themselves physically and spiritually.
While archaeologist have dated the complex back to 960, in earthquake-prone Bali the buildings are all modern reconstructions. Visitors are not allowed beyond the man courtyard, but from here you could access the bathing pools and visit all the main shrines to Brahma, Shiva, Krishna, and of course, Indra himself. The toughest gauntlet, though, awaits when you leave - the only way out to back to the parking lot leads through a labyrinth of souvenirs shops.
Taman Ayun Temple
Located at Mengwi village, district of Mengwi, Badung regency, about 19 km, North-west of Denpasar on the direction to Singaraja (north Bali), Taman Ayun is a royal temple built in 1634, surrounded by moat full of water lilies and is about 300 meters of the former palace of the King of Mengwi.
The temple yard is always green and fresh with well-cared flower plants and grass, while in the inner yard row of "Meru" (multi storied shrine), the ancestors shrine of the royal family of Mengwi called "Paibon" and the shrine to worship Ida Sang Hyang Tri Murti (God with His Three manifestation) called "Padmasana".
Across the temple is the "Museum Manusa Yadnya" (museum of human life cycle rituals) where displayed series of rituals to be undergone by Hindu Balinese starting from the time inside the mother's womb up to cremation ceremony.
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