As the Majapahit kingdom fell apart, many of its intelligentsia moved to Bali, including the priest Nirartha, who is credited with introducing many of the complexities of Balinese religion to the island. Artists, dancers, musicians and actors also fled to Bali at this time, and the island experienced an explosion of cultural activities. The final great exodus to Bali took place in 1478.
European Contact
The first Europeans to set foot in Bali were Dutch seafarers in 1597. Setting a tradition that prevails to the present, they fell in love with the island, and when Cornelius Houtman – the ship’s captain – prepared to set sail from Bali, some of his crew refused to leave with him. At that time, Balinese prosperity and artistic activity, at least among the royalty, were at a peak. When the Dutch returned to Indonesia in later years, they were interested in profit, not culture, and barely gave Bali a second glance.
BENOA BAY RECLAMATION PROJECT
Almost 10 million tourists converge each year upon Bali, but the majority remain blissfully unaware of the environmental impact such numbers have on the island. Outside the walls of the luxury villas and five-star hotels, however, a battle is being fought by a younger generation of Balinese who hold grave concerns about the future of their homeland. Alarming shortages of water (vital for rice harvests), pollution, congestion and issues of waste management are all serious matters. Highlighting such concerns is the protest movement Tolak Reklamasi (Reject Reclamation), aligned with the ForBali (www.forbali.org/en) forum, which has generated significant awareness in its relentless drive to fight against the Benoa Bay Reclamation Project.
This controversial project would see the reclamation of 75% of Benoa Bay, a mangrove conservation area, for the creation of Dubai-style artificial islands housing luxury resorts, villas, a casino, a golf course, an amusement park and a car-racing track. The bay was a protected conservation area until outgoing Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono revoked its status in 2014, giving the green light for development. Not only did this decision spark outrage for its supposed murky behind-the-scenes dealings, but feasability studies suggested it will result in rising sea levels and flooding, causing genuine fear that the Benoa Bay development will mean ecological disaster.
Tolak Reklamasi has urged the younger generation to take responsibility for their homeland and 'reclaim Bali' from developers. As well as speaking to environmentalists, the movement has galvanised students, village elders, NGOs, artists, fishers, local business owners and prominent members of the community to rally against the decision. In 2015 the drummer for internationally renowned Balinese punk band Superman is Dead, Jerinx, an activist and vocal opponent of the project, met with current president Joko Widodo to discuss the matter. In this meeting, according to the Indonesia newspaper Kompas, Jerinx urged the president to cancel the decision, stating 'People come to Bali not looking for Disneyland or F1, but for the culture of Bali. This is what we stand for.'
While the future for Benoa Bay appears grim, groups such as Tolak Reklamasi and Bali Not for Sale (www.facebook.com/balinotforsale) are playing an important role to protect Bali's future.
Dutch Conquest
In 1710 the capital of the Gelgel kingdom was shifted to nearby Klungkung, but local discontent was growing, lesser rulers were breaking away from Gelgel domination and the Dutch began to move in, using the old policy of divide and conquer. In 1846 the Dutch used Balinese salvage claims over shipwrecks as the pretext to land military forces in northern Bali. In 1894 the Dutch chose to support the Sasaks of Lombok in a rebellion against their Balinese raja. After some bloody battles, the Balinese were defeated in Lombok and, with northern Bali firmly under Dutch control, southern Bali was not to retain its independence for long.
In 1906 the Dutch commenced their final assault. The three rajas of Badung realised that they were outnumbered and outgunned, and that defeat was inevitable. Surrender and exile, however, was the worst imaginable outcome, so they decided to take the honourable path of a suicidal puputan – a fight to the death.
The Dutch begged the Balinese to surrender rather than make their hopeless stand, but their pleas went unheard and wave after wave of Balinese nobility marched to their deaths. In all, nearly 4000 Balinese died in the puputan.
The kingdoms of Karangasem and Gianyar had already capitulated to the Dutch and were allowed to retain some powers, but other kingdoms were defeated and the rulers exiled. Finally, the raja of Klungkung followed the lead of Badung and once more the Dutch faced a puputan. With this last obstacle disposed of, all of Bali was now under Dutch control and became part of the Dutch East Indies. Dutch rule over Bali was short-lived, however, as Indonesia fell to the Japanese in WWII.
Independence
On 17 August 1945, following the end of WWII, the Indonesian leader Sukarno proclaimed the nation’s independence; however, it took four years to convince the Dutch that they were not going to get their colony back. In a virtual repeat of the puputan nearly half a century earlier, a Balinese resistance group was wiped out in the Battle of Marga on 20 November 1946; Bali’s airport, Ngurah Rai, is named after its leader. It was not until 1949 that the Dutch recognised Indonesia’s independence.
Modern Bali
The tourism boom, which started in the early 1970s, has brought many changes to Bali, and has helped pay for improvements in roads, telecommunications, education and health. Though tourism has had some marked adverse environmental and social effects, Bali’s unique culture has proved to be remarkably resilient.
Bali has also been affected by global politics. In October 2002 two simultaneous bomb explosions in Kuta – targeting an area frequented by tourists – injured or killed more than 500 people. Tourism, and therefore the economy, was devastated. Soon after, the 2005 Bali bombings killed 20 and injured hundreds. Fortunately the last decade has been peaceful, and recent years have seen Bali return to form as a tourist destination.
Culture
Bali’s culture is unique, without a hint of cliché. The Balinese version of Hinduism that's practised here with great fervour exists nowhere else in the world, and has inspired fervent artistic expressions that charm visitors.
The population in Bali is almost all Indonesian; more than 90% of these are of Balinese Hindu descent and could be described as ethnic Balinese. The remaining residents are mostly from other parts of the country, predominantly Java.
The traditional Balinese society is intensely communal; the organisation of villages, the cultivation of farmlands and even the creative arts are communal efforts. A person belongs to their family, clan, caste and to the village as a whole.
Although tourism has brought much economic wealth to the island and there exists a burgeoning middle class, Bali's traditional rice-growing culture remains revered, even as swathes of land are sold for development. In 2012 Unesco recognised the island's rice-growing traditions, including the communal subak water distribution system.
Balinese society is held together by collective responsibility. For instance, if a woman enters a temple while menstruating, it is a kind of irreverence, an insult to the gods, and their displeasure falls not just on the transgressor but on the whole community. This collective responsibility produces considerable pressure on the individual to conform to adat – the traditional laws and customs that form core Balinese values.
Religion
You can’t miss religion in Bali; there are temples in every village, shrines in every field and offerings made at every corner.
The Balinese are nominally Hindu, but Balinese Hinduism is half a world away from that of Indian. When the Majapahits evacuated to Bali they took with them their religion and its rituals, as well as their art, literature, music and culture. The Balinese had their own strong religious beliefs and an active cultural life, so new influences were simply overlaid on existing practices – hence the peculiar Balinese interpretation of Hinduism.
The Balinese believe that spirits are everywhere, an indication that animism is the basis of much of their re
ligion. Good spirits dwell in the mountains and bring prosperity to the people, while giants and demons lurk beneath the sea, and bad spirits haunt the woods and desolate beaches. The people live between these two opposites and their rituals strive to maintain this middle ground. Offerings are carefully made every morning to pay homage to the good spirits, and nonchalantly placed on the ground to placate the bad ones.
Temples
The word for temple is pura, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘a space surrounded by a wall’. As with so much of Balinese religion, temples, though nominally Hindu, owe much to the pre-Majapahit era. Their kaja, kelod or kangin (alignment towards the mountains, the sea or the sunrise) is in deference to spirits that are more animist than Hindu.
Most villages have at least three temples. The most important temple is the pura puseh (temple of origin), which is dedicated to the village founders and is at the kaja end of the village. In the middle of the village is the pura desa for the spirits that protect the village community in its day-to-day life. At the kelod end of the village is the pura dalem (temple of the dead). The graveyard is also here and the temple will often include representations of Durga, the terrible incarnation of Shiva’s wife.
Families worship their ancestors in family temples, clans in clan temples and the whole village in the pura puseh. Certain temples in Bali are of such importance that they are deemed to be owned by the whole island rather than by individual villages. Overall Bali has more than 10,000 temples and shrines in all shapes and sizes.
The simple shrines or thrones you see, for example, in rice fields or next to sacred old trees are not real temples, as they are not walled. You’ll find these shrines in all sorts of places, such as overlooking intersections or dangerous curves in the road to protect road users.
For much of the year Balinese temples are deserted, but on holy days it’s believed that the deities and ancestral spirits descend from heaven to visit their devotees, and the temples come alive with days of frenetic activity and nights of drama and dance. Temple festivals occur at least once every Balinese year (210 days). Because most villages have at least three temples, you’re assured of at least five or six annual festivals in every village. The full-moon periods, around the end of September to the beginning of October, or early to mid-April, are often times of important festivals.
Galungan-Kuningan is a 10-day festival during which lots of activity takes place at family and community temples all over the island.
NYEPI
Bali’s major Hindu festival, Nyepi celebrates the end of the old year and the start of the next. It’s marked by inactivity – a strategy to convince evil spirits that Bali is uninhabited, so they’ll leave the island alone for another year.
For the Balinese, it's a day for meditation and introspection. For foreigners, the rules are more relaxed, so long as you respect the 'Day of Silence' by not leaving your residence or hotel. If you do sneak out, you will be be escorted back to your hotel by a stern pecalang (village police officer). The airport also closes during Nyepi.
As daunting as it sounds, Nyepi is actually a fantastic time to be in Bali. Firstly, there's the inspired concept of being forced to do nothing. Secondly, the night before Nyepi sees the spectacle of celebrations with ogoh-ogoh, huge papier-mâché monsters that go up in flames.
In coming years, dates for Nyepi are 28 March 2017, 17 March 2018 and 5 April 2019.
Arts
The Balinese have no words for ‘art’ and ‘artist’ because, traditionally, art has never been regarded as something to be treasured for its own sake. Prior to the tourism boom, art was just part of everyday life, and what was produced went into temples, palaces or festivals. Although respected, the painter or carver was not considered a member of some special elite; the artist’s work was not signed; and there were no galleries or craft shops.
It’s a different story today, with thousands of art outlets tucked into every possible crevice. Although much Balinese art is churned out quickly as cheap souvenirs, buried beneath the reproductions of reproductions there’s still much beautiful work to be found. Most visitors to the island discover the greatest concentration of the arts in and around Ubud.
Balinese Painting
The art form most influenced both by Western ideas and tourist demand is painting. Traditional painting was very limited in style and subject matter, and was used primarily for temple decoration. The arrival of Western artists after WWI introduced new subject matter and materials with which artists could work.
Traditional Balinese paintings were narratives with mythological themes, illustrating stories from Hindu epics and literature. Paintings were executed in the wayang style – the flat two-dimensional style that imitates wayang kulit (shadow puppets), with the figures invariably shown in three-quarter view. The colours that artists could use were strictly limited: red, blue, brown, yellow, and light ochre for flesh.
Bali's painting traditions remain vibrant and rich today. Ubud is the place to ponder the best paintings in museums and galleries.
TOP BALI READS
Bali Daze – Freefall off the Tourist Trail – Cat Wheeler’s accounts of daily life in Ubud ring more true than other recent books.
Secrets of Bali: Fresh Light on the Morning of the World – One of the most readable books about Bali, its people, its traditions and more. Authors Jonathan Copeland and Ni Wayan Murni have a winner.
Hotel K – Serving as a cautionary tale to avoid drugs in Bali. Kathryn Bonella offers insight on life inside Kerobokan's infamous prison.
Eat, Pray, Love – Love it or hate it, every year this bestseller lures to Bali believers hoping to capture something in Elizabeth Gilbert’s prose.
Dance
Music, dance and drama are closely related in Bali. In fact, dance and drama are synonymous, though some ‘dances’ are more drama and less dance, and others more dance and less drama.
Many visitors are seduced by the haunting and melodic charms of a dance performance in Ubud, a quintessential Bali experience.
Balinese dance tends to be precise, shifting and jerky, like the accompanying gamelan music, which has abrupt shifts of tempo and dramatic changes between silence and crashing noise. There’s virtually no physical contact in Balinese dancing – each dancer moves independently, but every movement of wrist, hand and finger is important. Even facial expressions are carefully choreographed to convey the character of the dance.
Dances are a regular part of almost every temple festival, and Bali has no shortage of these. There are also dances virtually every night at tourist centres; the most authentic are found in and around Ubud.
In late 2015, nine Balinese dances were officially recognised by Unesco and added to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Gamelan
As with Sumatran and Javanese, Balinese music is based around the gamelan orchestra. The whole gamelan orchestra is known as a gong – an-old fashioned gong gede or a more modern gong kebyar. It's easy to hear gamelan music in Bali; not only is it a core part of ceremonies but groups practise regularly.
WHAT'S IN A NAME
Far from being straightforward, Balinese names are as fluid as the tides. Everyone has a traditional name, but their other names often reflect events in each individual's life. They also help distinguish between people of the same name, which is perhaps nowhere more necessary than in Bali.
Traditional naming customs seem simple enough, with a predictable gender-nonspecific pattern to names. The order of names, with variations for regions and caste, is as follows:
First born Wayan (Gede, Putu)
Second born Made (Kadek, Nengah, Ngurah)
Third born Nyoman (Komang)
Fourth born Ketut (or just Tut, as in toot)
Subsequent children reuse the same set, but as many families now settle for just two children, you'll meet many Wayans and Mades.
Castes also play an important role in naming and have naming conventions that clearly denote status when added to the birth-
order name. Bali's caste system is much less complicated than India's.
Sudra Some 90% of Balinese are part of this, the peasant caste. Names are preceded by the title 'I' for a boy and 'Ni' for a girl.
Wesya The caste of bureaucrats and merchants. Gusti Bagus (male) and Gusti Ayu (female).
Ksatria A top caste, denoting royalty or warriors. I Gusti Ngurah (male) and I Gusti Ayu (female), with additional titles including Anak Agung, and Dewa.
Brahman The top of the heap: teachers and priests. Ida Bagus (male) and Ida Ayu (female).
Traditional names are followed by another given name; this is where parents can get creative. Some names reflect hopes for their child, as in I Nyoman Darma Putra, who's supposed to be 'dutiful' or 'good' (dharma). Others reflect modern influences, such as I Wayan Radio who was born in the 1970s, and Ni Made Atom, who said her parents just liked the sound of this scientific term that also had a bomb named after it.
Many children are tagged for their appearance. Nyoman Darma is often called Nyoman Kopi (coffee) for the darkness of his skin compared with that of his siblings. I Wayan Rama, named after the Ramayana epic, is called Wayan Gemuk (fat) to differentiate his physique from his slighter friend Wayan Kecil (small).
8Getting There & Away
Air
Bali is the second most common entry point to Indonesia. The only airport in Bali, Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS; GOOGLE MAP ; http://bali-airport.com; Bali), is just south of Kuta; however, it is sometimes referred to internationally as Denpasar (which is 15km north) or, on some internet flight-booking sites, as Bali. Completion of the airport's expansion and renovation has transformed it into one of Indonesia's most shiny, modern airports with world-class facilities and restaurants.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 38