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| October 30, 2007 |
| Balinese Ceremonies (both large and small) |
 Balinese culture revolves around Agama Hindu, the local version of Hinduism. The highlights of this cultural / religious observance are the upacara (ceremonies) that are colorful and frequent. The most important ones are Galungan, Kuningan, Tumpek and Nyepi to name a few - but there are those ceremonies that a majority of travellers to Bali are unaware of. Here are just a few.
• Bersih Desa: This ‘ritual’ is an expression of appreciation to the fertility Gods such as Dewi Sri. Subsequently, this ritual takes place around the period of the rice harvest. I suppose you could call it a ‘village spring-clean’!. Roads and paths in the village area are repaired. Houses and other buildings of importance are cleaned, as are most of the garden areas within the village. Whatever needs painting gets painted, and in general, the whole village is renewed in appearance.
• Hari Raya Sariswati: Batari Dewi Saraswati, the beautiful goddess, was the wife of Brahma. She was the goddess of the arts, sciences and learning. This day is to commemorate her and nobody on the island is allowed to write or read for the day. Special ceremonies are conducted by a pedanda early in the morning at the Pura Jata Natha temple in Denpasar. On this day, books are offered to be blessed by the Gods. Hari Raya Saraswati is a day of appreciation when wisdom was brought to the world by the Gods.
• Pagerwesi: Literally interpreted means ‘iron fence’. It is a day when man should fortify the space around himself to fend off evil spirits – the continuous battle between good and evil. Pagerwesi is a day of offerings requesting spiritual strength when confronting the life-cycles of suffering and worldly fulfillment. It is also a day of offerings for the protection of the village and families and the world around them. On this day, villagers take offerings to cemeteries for the un-cremated dead. As on the day Galungan, on the day of Pagerwesi ‘penjors’ are raised which makes it a day as almost as important as Galungan. You will find this ceremony almost strictly observed in the regency of Buleleng – the northern regions of Bali.
• Melasti: The day before Nyepi. Everybody knows that the day of Nyepi is a day of silence, but, the day of Melasti is far from that and especially at night. It is a day when the villagers purify the deities - known as ‘Pratima’ – with water. This is the day when the villagers, dressed in their finery and carrying long-poled umbrellas, proceed in lines towards a source of water – a holy spring or the sea. In this procession, the women carry offerings of fruit and sweet cakes and flowers, and the men carry the sacred family statues on bamboo litters. Upon arriving at the water source (generally the sea), the pedanda prays and rings his small bells whilst the men carrying the litters rush the sacred figures into the water symbolically washing them and thus purifying the statues.
On the day of Melasti, you will also find the offerings of the flesh of domestic animals at crossroads – the haven of the evil spirits ‘bhuta‘ and ‘kala’. The offering of flesh is to placate these demons. Later in the evening, all hell breaks loose with all manner of noise and din created to awaken all the evil spirits and demons. This is the most spectacular part of this day.
There is also another very important ceremony called Eka Dasa Rudra. It is a ceremony to restore balance in the world and, is the most important and biggest religious ceremony on the island of Bali. Traditionally, the ceremony of Eka Dasa Rudra occurs every 100 years. There must be a balance in the world between the forces of good and evil, and when the balance favours the latter the ceremony must be performed.
When the ceremony of Eka Dasa Rudra occurs - its preparation and the entire ceremony - it is with the involvement of the entire population of Bali. Basically, the eleven demons (of which Rudra is the most powerful) must be transformed in order that they become less threatening to the world balance. This is why then the ceremonies duration is 11 weeks with the number of ceremonies totalling thirty in all.
The beginning of the Eka Dasa Rudra is spectacular. This involves the symbolic washing of the Gods images in the sea. The whole procession takes three days and in this time the images are carried to the sea. But it is the sacrificing of a buffalo, whose horns are covered in gold casings and adorned with other valuables, to the sea demons that to most westerners would seem cruel, but to the Balinese its not. A large heavy stone is tied around the neck of the buffalo as it is forced into the swirling ocean. There are various chants and prayers by pemangku and pedanda, and there are dance rituals performed. The main one being the war dance, baris.
With the conclusion of the initial sacrifice and accompanying rituals virtually everybody in Bali, or most of them, travel to the mother temple at Besakih. Every path and road leading from all the villages in Bali are filled with lines of worshippers carrying offerings up to the main temple at Besakih. When all are gathered, then the climax of Eka Dasa Rudra begins - the Taur sacrifices. These sacrifices involve the pedanda directing their prayers in all 11 directions of what is called 'Balinese space', according to ancient rituals written on lontar-palm scripts. Whilst these prayers are being directed, two dozen or so priests sacrifice many animals and birds in an effort to appease the demonic manifestation of Bali's supreme-being, Rudra.
Naturally the ceremony of Eka Dasa Rudra is much more complicated and detailed than I have explained. But you have the basics of the ceremony.Labels: Balinese Ceremonies |
posted by Admin @ 2:52 PM  |
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