of the family income is used to create banten tegeh offerings, which comprise mostly fruit, such as jambu and salak, as well as more commonly known apples and bananas.
Contents of these enormous banten tegeh offerings are layered upon a dulang pedestal tray with a spike at the center to help keep everything stable.
No offering or communication with the gods is complete without presenting flowers, lighting a stick of incense and sprinkling the offering with holy water.
When attending temple ceremonies, women always wear elegant kamen sarong-style skirts, baju kebaya blouses and the obligatory waist sash.
The Traditional Market
Although mini-marts seem ubiquitous, and a few shopping malls have sprung up in the cities and tourist areas, most Balinese still shop at a pasar umum (public market). Market traders are almost always women, who don’t shy from rising before the roosters and transporting hefty bundles on their heads. Partaking in the banjar village association and playing in a gamelan orchestra are predominantly male domains, but markets are an essential chance for women to socialize, earn money and buy food that’s fresh and goods that comply with adat (traditional) customs.
Daily markets are sometimes makeshift, such as the one that operates near ‘bemo corner’ in Kuta between about 5 am and 8 am, or housed in a permanent structure like at Sanur. Some villages may only have markets every three days, on set days each week or at night (pasar malam). Others specialize, such as Pasar Kumbasari in Denpasar, which sells souvenirs and clothes, Pasar Burung, also in Denpasar, for birds and other caged animals, and at Candikuning, where traffic jams are created as drivers stop to buy rare delights like strawberries.
Some markets close, or the best produce is already bought, by the time tourists even contemplate breakfast. This is to ensure that food doesn’t rot in the heat and because traders often have other duties, such as cooking and tending to animals and rice fields. As well as fruit, vegetables, meat, clothes and household goods, ingredients for ceremonial offerings and canang, small trays woven from palm leaves, are sold. Impromptu fish markets (pasar ikan) are often positioned alongside roads within minutes of fully laden boats landing, for example, around Amed, while fish is put on ice all day at the extensive market at Jimbaran. The largest, oldest and most chaotic produce market is Pasar Badung in Denpasar, while the market at Semarapura is relatively spacious and clean, and the one in Ubud is convenient.
Some of the more unusual fruits often not found outside of Asia include salak, with its brown snake-like skin, and rambutan, with a hairy red covering.
Some market stalls also sell flowers and petals that can be added to the ubiquitous trays of canang offerings.
Shopping is not always a chore. It’s also a time to gossip. And bargaining is a way of life for all buyers and sellers.
Traditional Healers and Herbal Treatments
A traditional healer called a balian, or dukun elsewhere in Indonesia, is often the first port of call when a Balinese becomes sick, not only for medical purposes but also spiritual reasons, such as contacting deceased family members while grieving. The 8,000 or so balian have learnt their trade from officially studying ancient texts for years or through divine intervention. Treatments include massaging to restore internal harmony, applying pastes, and prescribing drinks formulated from various herbs and plants. Other healing processes may be painful (being poked with a stick), unpleasant (being basted with spit) or unusual (the balian may drift into a trance).
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