purposes and duties, particularly preparing for and presiding over temple ceremonies and family rituals. They are either pedanda high priests from the brahmana caste only or pemangku temple priests from any other caste, although many Balinese also consult balian (traditional healers) for spiritual as well as physical guidance and well-being.
Everything is symbolic and ritualized, from the number of roofs on the pagoda-style meru shrines to the position of hands and body when praying.
Worshippers raise their hands above their heads when praying to a revered god within a temple. Hands positioned in front of the face indicate that one is praying to the ancestors.
The Balinese New Year
One of the most important days on the saka or sasih lunar calendar is Nyepi, the Day of Silence, which signifies the start of the Balinese Hindu New Year at the new moon in March or April. Everyone, including tourists, is confined to their homes or hotels and the streets are eerily deserted and dark so that evil spirits hovering over Bali will assume the island has been abandoned and will move on.
The aim of the day before Nyepi is to cleanse Bali of demons so that the next year can start afresh. Colossal offerings (tawur agung), created to placate the demons and purify areas of evil influences, are placed at crossroads. Massive, and often outrageously shaped effigies of demonic monsters (ogoh-ogoh), which take weeks to construct, are paraded around the streets by young men. Animal sacrifices and mock exorcisms are also undertaken by priests to appease the evil spirits. During the evening, there is organized chaos as masses of people yell, carry flame torches, let off fireworks and bang pots to scare off and expel the demons, and the numerous ogoh-ogoh are burnt.
In distinct contrast, Nyepi, which lasts 24 hours from 6 am, is a day of complete silence and time for reflection, prayer and inactivity, which includes tourists. Special police ensure that everything, including the airport, is closed (although hospitals and hotels stay open); that the streets are empty (except for ambulances); and that no electricity or lights are being used. The day after (ngembak nyepi or ngembak geni) is celebrated with various rituals, including a kissing and water-throwing ceremony in Denpasar, and roads become even more jam-packed than normal as people visit families, friends and temples.
Tourists are expected to comply with all regulations. It can be inconvenient with no shopping, surfing or clubbing, but hotels remain open and staff will arrang e meals for guests.
Elaborate offerings made of cloth and bamboo leaves are regularly placed on shrines in family compounds and around the rice fields to appease the gods.
The Barong is a benevolent figure in Balinese religion, used like a Chinese lion or dragon dance to chase away evil spirits and bring good fortune.
The banten tegeh offerings carried to the temple on festival days can weigh up to 20 kg, with the size and contents depending on the importance of the ceremony.
Monstrous effigies called ogoh-ogoh are hand-crafted by dozens of men for weeks leading up to the Balinese New Year celebrations before being engulfed in flames within minutes.
A temple priest known as a pemangku will often guide and bless worshippers, even if the temple itself, at Tanah Lot, is inaccessible because of high tide.
Many temples are often, by definition, perched along hills, mountains and volcanoes. Invariably, attendance involves a lengthy walk, often followed by a strenuous climb through the gapura or gateway.
Traditional dances and shows, such as fire breathing, are still performed, if mainly for the benefit of fee-paying tourists.
Ceremonial Outfits and Temple Etiquette
To please the gods during temple ceremonies, Balinese Hindus dress up in their finest outfits according to traditional customs. Men wear kamen sarongs, short-sleeved shirts or jackets and white head-cloths called udeng. Women also appear resplendent in their colorful kebaya blouses and kamen sarongs with cloth belts (selempot). Foreigners are welcome to observe ceremonies but not participate unless specifically invited. If so, they’re expected to wear appropriate ceremonial attire and make a small donation to help with the significant costs of maintaining the temple and holding the ceremony. When visiting temples, tourists must wear a sarong and, if possible, a temple sash (selendang) as a sign of respect. These can be borrowed at major temples. A temple is not only a place of worship but a sacred building. Some rules are obvious, for example, never enter if a sign forbids non-Hindus; always remain quiet and distant; and be sensible about filming, for example, don’t use a flash. Other s are less so: never walk in front of anyone praying or position yourself higher than a priest. Also, women who are pregnant, menstruating or have given birth within the previous 42 days, as well as anyone grieving, bleeding or sick, is forbidden to enter because they are spiritually unclean (sebel).
Rules about the position of the body and hands are strictly adhered to while praying at temples.
Each village funds its own orchestra or gamelan, including massive bronze gongs, which are used during temple ceremonies and family rituals.
Women often walk vast distances to ceremonies carrying weighty offerings called banten tegeh on their heads, but need some help loading up.
During ceremonies, boys and girls of all ages are happy to dress up in traditional attire and help make offerings beforehand.
Because of the expense, a whole roast pig is usually reserved for special temple ceremonies. The cost and the cooked meat are often shared by several families.
To ensure the soul’s proper release and reincarnation, cremations are lavish affairs that can take years to save for and organize. The ceremony usually involves hundreds of people.
Temples and Temple Ceremonies
Balinese are villagers at heart, so hundreds of villages are spread across the island. Places like Ubud, for example, are really an amalgamation of a dozen or more villages. Each village has at
