Having a pet is a trend that constantly rising for years in Bali, which is shown by the rising number of pet and pet owner in Bali. Pet shops sprung here and there to fulfill the rising demand on pet food, pet accessories, and other pet related things. Now you can see afternoon two or three people walking their dog in Public Park, and to a sight that impossible to behold forty or thirty years ago.

In the bygone days, petting is an alien concept in Balinese mind; dogs, cats or other animals were just animal and did not deserve love and care since love and care only fit for human. At that time, the only noble position for a dog is to be sacrificed in a ceremony; domesticated animal such as cows, water buffalos and pigs had a better position since they were fed and sometimes provided with a pen. As for dogs and cats, they wandered around freely. The massive number of street dogs at that time made Covarrubias concluded that dogs were the things that keep Bali away from perfection.

(more…)

“The roads are particularly infested with miserable dogs, the scavenger of the island. Most dogs are attached to the house they protect and keep clean the garbage, but they reproduce unchecked and there are thousands homeless living skeletons, covered with ulcers and mange, that bark and wail all night in great choruses. The Balinese are not disturbed by them and sleep perfectly through the hideous noise. The curs are supposed to frighten away witches and evil spirits, but I could never discover how our neighbors knew when it was an ordinary mortal and not the devil that the dog barked at; they always awoke when a stranger came into the house at night. Such dogs were undoubtedly provided by the gods to keep Bali from perfection.”

This passage was taken from Covarrubias’s Bali; it provides an image of Balinese dogs in 1930s. Though this image is no longer relevant for nowadays situation, but some part of the image can still be found in the rural areas of Bali. Back on the village streets the dogs still roam freely, still serve as the scavengers, still bark and wail all night in great choruses but the numbers are greatly reduced from thousands to dozens and only very few of them can be categorized as “homeless living skeletons, covered with ulcers and mange”.

(more…)

Dr. A. A. Made Jelantik, renaissance man supreme, doctor of dharma, aesthetician, and one of most decent human beings I have ever met, has left us. He passed away just after midnight on Tuesday, 5 September 2007. His body will remain at his home in Renon until the 10th of September when he shall be brought to his childhood home of Puri Agung in Karangasem.

Dr. A. A. Made Jelantik. Photo courtesy Roy Tee & Ann Bouwma

The ritual kingsan ring geni (or bequethal to the fire) shall be performed on 13 September in Karangasem. This ritual is the burning of the body, but is not considered as a cremation by the Balinese. The crematory rituals will be held at an undisclosed future date.

(more…)

Over the last eighty years, visitors have contrived various names for Bali praising its richness in culture, its extreme fertility, its endless beauty, and the artistry and the charm of its people. The names are range from ‘The Last Paradise’ to ‘The Morning of the World’, from ‘The Island of Gods to Island of Thousands Temples. If we imagine Bali as a product, various brands have been given to this single product, and the last attempt to give another brand for Bali was not come from the visitor to the island but from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

A new brand for Bali which called “Bali: Shanti Shanti Shanti” has been launched by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Culture. To shed a better light on this new brand for Bali, here is the explanation on the new brand provided by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture:

(more…)

Rotaract Projects: Help Nyoman Kanca

Appeal for Funding to Send Nyoman Kanca to Adelaide, Australia for an operation in 2007 at the Australian Cranifacial Unit.

The South Australian Government provides the operation, accomodation at the hospital and a large team of specialists to look after Kanca.

Yayasan Senyum, Bali coordinates getting the patient to Adelaide.

.
You can Help this young man
Donate today…!

to this apeal by Rotaract Club of Bali Ubud.

(more…)

In Bali the honeymoon usually precedes the wedding; the average boy in love with a girl makes his marriage arrangements directly with her, and outside his father, perhaps, and a few friends from he needs help, he keeps his intention secret until the day, previously agreed upon between the boy and the girl, when he will steal her. Shy couples simply run away together to the house of a friend, as a rule in another village, where they spent honeymoon in hiding.

flickr.com/photos/made_diaz/

However, the Balinese love spectacular kidnappings. The girl arranges for her clothes to be taken secretly to their future hide out, and on the appointed day she is captured by somewhere on the road, in the fields, or in the river by the kidnapping party, led by her suitor. She is expected to kick and bite her abductors in sham of self-defense, and although there may be witnesses, no one would dream of interfering, unless they are the relatives of the girl, in which case they are supposed to put up a great fight
(more…)