Balinese religion, in a broad sense, Hindus, even among the priests, is concrete, action-centered, thoroughly interwoven with the details of everyday life, and touched with little, if any, of the philosophical sophistication or generalized concern of classical Brahmanism or its Buddhist offshoot.

The most important aspect of religion to the Balinese is the performance of five related ritual cycles. These are five yajna, sacrifices, and are derived from ancient brahmanic theology. They are dewa yajna, sacrifices to the gods, which are made in the temples; buta yajna, sacrifices to the negative or demonic powers or “elements”; manusa yajna, rites of passage; pitra yajna, offerings to the dead; and rsi yajna, consecration of priests.

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Nusa Dua – Bali, March 2007…Nikko Bali Resort & Spa takes great pleasure to announce that it is about to embark on an extensive refurbishment program that will result in a stylish new look for the property. Phased over the coming months, the renovation will be carried out in sections to avoid guest disturbance.

The program includes the establishment of a prestigious Club Lounge designed to capture the serene beauty of the Indian Ocean. In addition, a refreshing refurbishment will see a total of 94 Deluxe Beach Front rooms transformed into private retreats for ultimate relaxation.

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A child bears his father or mother name is a common practice in most parts of the world. However, in Bali, the parents, grandparents, or even great grandparents bear their offspring’s name.

In Balinese culture someone personal name is treated as though it is a classified information – At birth, each Balinese is given a sex indicator, caste title, birth order name and a personal/ real name. It is forbidden for younger people to call their older with his personal or real name. For children and young adolescent birth order names is used to call each other. And kinship relation terms invoked at best sporadically, and then only for purposes of secondary specification. In this kind of situation, a question arises, how do most Balinese address and refer to one another? The answer is: by teknonyms.
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Villa Sebali, Ubud Bali is just 15 minute’s drive from the centre of Ubud, the cultural and artistic heart of Bali. All on good roads, half the drive is through typical villages, beautiful rice fields and tropical forest, and half past interesting art galleries, antique and craft shops, and restaurants. Ubud is about one and a quarter hours drive from the Bali’s International Airport.

This beautiful, very spacious villa on the edge of Sebali, a pretty village just outside Ubud, is a luxurious haven from which to enjoy both the peace and the delights of Bali.
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QATAR Airways yesterday began flights to Chennai and Bali. Chennai is the airline’s sixth Indian destination. It already flies to Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad.
Qatar Airways also becomes the first Middle Eastern carrier to serve the tropical island of Bali. It is the national carrier’s second destination in Indonesia. It already flies to the country’s capital Jakarta.

On the Chennai route, Qatar Airways will operate daily flights using an Airbus A321 with 12 seats in business class and 132 in economy.

There will be four weekly flights to Bali and the airline will use an Airbus A300-600 aircraft with up to 30 seats in business class and 234 in economy.

“Passenger demand for both routes is expected to be significant,” Qatar Airways chief executive officer, Akbar al-Baker said yesterday.
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When there is a celebration in a hamlet meeting hall or house compound, joged bungbung is one of few sought after social dances that is used to entertain audience and bring more festivity to the celebration.

Joged Bungbung on The Annual Bali Arts Festival 2006

The name joged bungbung derives from the word joged that means “dance” – joged bungbung dancer is also called joged - and the word bungbung refers to a length of hollow bamboo. Unlike the bronze-keyed, xylophone – like instrument of musical group that accompany most of the performance, the keys of this ensemble are turned length of the bamboo, struck with rubber-covered mallet held in both hands. The music is very soft and mellow. One may hear it played by a soloist as background music at restaurant. But the joged bungbung group consists of half a dozen or more of these instrument, some very large bass xylophones, several of medium size, and tiny ones to ornament the melody. There are also drums and cymbal like ceng-cengs. Since it has no religious connection, joged is now popular lobby entertainment at many of the larger hotels.
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