Out of more than 20,000 thousand temples in Bali, Pura Dalem Jawa in Bunutin village, in Bangli regency has its unique characteristic that cannot be found in any other temples in Bali. Not just Hindu devotees pay homage in this temple but also Muslim which happen to live or on vacation in Bali.

This temple is situated on the outskirt of Bangli’s capital town. A yellow sign on the side of the road will give you the direction to the temple. Pura Dalem Jawa is surrounded by a pond filled with water lilies and colorful fish. Seeing from outside the temple, this temple is just like any other temple in Bali but if we step our feet on the inner courtyard of the temple, we can find a unique structure which differentiate this temple from the rest of the temples in Bali. This structure is a shrine in form of a langgar (a small version of mosque). This structure is not function as a mosque but as matter of fact a Hindu shrine in form of Muslim praying place.

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Tomorrow evening, 05/27/08, the real Sanghyang dedari dance will be held in Bukit Buluh Temple, in Banjar Gunaksa (Gunaksa hamlet), Ababi village, Karangasem regency. When I say the “real Sanghyang Dedari” what I refer to is not the popular Sanghyang Dedari dance that is staged for tourist consumption in Batubulan or other tourism resort. The Sanghyang Dedari that will be performed tomorrow is a ritual that is performed to exorcise the plague or pestilence.

Here is some information in relation with Sanghyang Dedari: Sanghyang Dedari is a sacred dance which can be found Badung, Gianyar and Bangli regency. This sacred dance is used to ward the pestilence or plague which swept Bali when the fanged demon living on the little island of Nusa Penida comes to Bali. Two dancers are chosen from all the girls of the village for their psychic aptitudes by the temple priest, to receive the spirit of heavenly nymphs, Dedari Supraba and Tunjung Biru (Blue Lotus). At the death temple, the Sanghyang Dedari dancers in white skirts kneel before a brazier of smoking incense in front of the altar.

During a trance ceremony, the priest makes offerings to the temple deity, requesting protection for the village. A chorus of women is seated in a circle around them, singing the Sanghyang song, which asks the celestial nymphs to descend from heaven and dance before the people through the girls’ bodies and incense is wafted about them.

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Penglipuran is a village in the southeastern part of Bali, in Bangli regency. Located 700 m above sea level, Penglipuran offers cool atmosphere with lush green surrounding. Penglipuran has 716 inhabitants and covers an area of 112 hectares. Like most places in Bali, Penglipuran and its surroundings is a tourist destination but Penglipuran put more emphasis of the beauty of their natural surrounding and most of all the beauty of their village itself.

The beauty of this village is represented by the name of this village; some say that the word “penglipuran” isderived from the word “penglipur” means “entertainer” it is said that in bygone days the kings of Bali often went to this area to amuse themselves, since the beauty of this area is believed to bring peacefulness and inspiration.

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The village of Songan is situated on the shore of Lake Batur, in Bangli Regency; 12 km from Penelokan or one hour-walk or drive on the single line from Toya Bungkah. Songan is also accessible by boat from Kedisan and Toya Bungkah. Songan is small village with a population around 5,000 people with a couple of streets and beautiful temples next to the lake.

Though Songan is quite off of the tourism map but Songan has many interesting view to offer; the best attraction in Songan is its beautiful natural panorama of the surrounding lake and forest. If you want to capture most beautiful view offered by this village; I suggest you to spend a night there get up early and have a shot or two of Songan superb sunrise. The pictures here will explain the beauty of the Songan sunrise for you.

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I walked into the compound of the griya (Brahmin household) in the midst of much activity. Their family gods were getting new shrines and every post and pavilion was wrapped in gold-painted cloth; the neighbors were there in droves making offerings, sorting through rice and busying themselves with the myriad tasks any large temple ceremony entails. And this is two weeks before the ceremony even begins.

This compound is where Ida Bagus Oka Wirjana, or Gus Aji Blangsinga as he is more affectionately known (named after his village of Blangsinga) lives with only a few of his l7 children (with Ida Ayu Putu Muter), 27 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. An incredibly handsome and fit man of 73, Gus Aji is one of the living repositories of the famed Kebyar Duduk dance, which was created in the 1930s by I Ketut Mario and has become one of the standards seen in both sacred and secular venues.

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Here is an interesting piece of writing on the growing trend of buying offerings for religious ceremony which is taken from Scott A Johnsen’s thesis which is entitled From Royal House to Nation: The Construction of Hinduism and Balinese Ethnicity In Indonesia.

Many Balinese now regularly purchase offerings, from small offerings for use in the houseyard to all the offerings needed for a life-cycle or temple anniversary ritual. On a positive reading, one often hears that this is more efisien than making all offerings oneself. On a negative reading, it is now common to hear the complaint that Balinese too often purchase their offerings, instead of making them themselves. For example, an offering specialist in Tabanan regency laments this change, commenting in Bali Aga magazine:

Now it is not like in the past, when making offerings for [rituals – lists offerings for marriages, mortuary rituals, etc.] was done with others as a duty (ngayah). There did not used to be people buying offerings as is done today, everything were done oneself. I learned from my grandmother. Now, since it is normal to buy them, no one makes offerings every evening if a relative is having a ritual.

In Bangli, I also encountered clear sentiments along these lines. For example, at a shadow puppet performance by one of my sources, a character urged women to make their own offerings: “Young women should study to make canang [kind of common offering], so they don’t always have to buy them. Studying this is proper for women.” A woman from the city of Bangli who worked in the capital, Denpasar, told me that the feeling of solidarity is much greater in Bangli. In her ward in Denpasar they buy the offerings and spend two days at most preparing for temple anniversaries (as opposed to one or two weeks in Bangli). A village official in Bangli told me that the use of purchased offerings lessens the feeling of mutual assistance (gotong royong) that derives from collective preparations for a ritual. In Sanur (highly touristed area in South Bali), an older woman told me that there did not used to be any people selling offerings, but now if there is a cremation on short notice (ngaben mendadak) usually most of the offerings are purchased. I heard from sources in Denpasar and in Bangli that people in Denpasar are more likely than many other Balinese to buy offerings. One source said this was because people in Denpasar are “a bit modern”, while another said that they are becoming more individualistic and do not have as much time as people elsewhere. In less urban areas, purchasing offerings can have connotations of failure: it is evidence that one could not mobilize sufficient labor.

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