Exactly 3 days before the celebration of Nyepi, most of the Balinese Hindus would carry out the “Melasti” procession as one of the series of rituals before the ultimate celebration of the Saka New Year. Through morning to sunset, the Hindus will flock on the beaches in all over Bali to purify the “pratima” (sacred object to symbolize God).

According to Drs.I Ketut Wiana, one of the Balinese Hindu figure, Melasti has a very deep substance, not only to purify the “pratima” or other sacred symbols. He said that in “Aji Swamandala” manuscript, it was mentioned that Melasti is also aimed to wash away the ”laraning jagat” (world’s pain), to cash away the “papa klesa” (sadness) and to clean up the “letuhing bhuwana” (world’s dirt), while in “Sunargama” manuscript, it was mentioned that Melasti is aimed to pick up the nucleus of live in the sea, through the ritual.

Melasti on Purnama Beach, Sukawati Gianyar
Date: Sunday, 26th March 2006

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Arie Smit was born in Zaandam in the the Netherlands on April 15, 1916 and was christened Adrianus Wilhelmus Smit. He first arrived in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1938. Drafted by the army he was set to work in the Topographical Service in the then Dutch East Indies. There he used to etch Balinese mountains onto maps and this ignited his desire to one day go to Bali.

In 1951 Smit became an Indonesia citizen. “I was so sure that this my is my country” he says. And he has stayed true to his words. Since his arrival in Bali in 1956, this tropical paradise has been his home and his inspiration.

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No visit to Bali can be called complete without witnessing at least one performance of the spectacular mix of grace and spirit, passion and power that is Balinese dance. Whether it is the delicate beauty of the Legong dance, where angelic young girls move with breathtaking grace to the silvery tones of a gamelan orchestra, or the uncanny magic of the Calonarang drama where the evil witch Rangda does battle with the legendary Barong and his legion of dagger-wielding followers, or the spine-tingling action of the Kecak, whose hundred man chorus sends up an eerie symphony of sound into the still night air, a performance of Balinese dance is something the visitor will never forget.

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JAKARTA: Swedish visitors to the country can now get visas on arrival, a move which observers say highlights the improved relations between the two countries after Jakarta signed a peace deal last year with Acehnese rebels. Many Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders were given exile in Sweden before the truce in Helsinki was signed by the government and GAM on Aug. 15.

Indonesia reopened its diplomatic mission in Stockholm after the deal. Earlier, the government had accused Sweden of protecting exiled GAM leaders by granting them Swedish citizenship.

The visa-on-arrival policy was made effective on March 15. “It has been issued to boost tourist numbers and cooperation efforts between the two countries,” immigration office spokesman Soepriatna Anwar said Wednesday.

Sweden joins 36 countries eligible for the visas. - The Jakarta Post

Meru - A multiroofed pagoda or shrine made of black thatch found only on Bali. Also the symbol of the Buddhist mountain-of-heaven, Mahameru, the axis mundi of the world and abode of the gods. The legend of this sacred mountain, represented on Bali by Gunung Agung, originates in India.

73 meter Ayung River front spring water lagoon.

Holy spring water swimming pool.

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