Head cloth, or udeng is the most striking part of Balinese traditional dress. An udeng is actually a piece of square cloth about one meter on each side. It may have overall design but it is usually symmetrical. The wearer folds the cloth into a triangle rolls up the long end several times until the remaining triangle is small enough to cover the head, and ties it to the head. The entire udeng is tied to the head in such way that the point of the triangle faces toward the rear and the knot is centered on the forehead, then one side of the triangle is pulled behind the knot, making a crest known as “jambul,” after the tuff of feather on the head of some birds.

There are many style of udeng; above mentioned technique is used to make a general udeng which are widely used by Balinese men. Some men prefer to use different style of udeng to distinguish themselves from the crowd but some use a different kind of udeng as a mark of their social or religious role, for example: priest used a distinguished style of udeng, known as “udeng mangku” as a sign of priesthood; this style has a knot on the back of the head and the triangle cover the head. Pecalang (traditional security force) also use a unique style of udeng known as jejantaran as sign of their role as a security force.

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From a tiny village of Tenganan comes the rare geringsing cloth that put this little village among the best in textile technology. The geringsing cloth with its double ikat technique – a method in which resist patterns are applied to both the wrap and the welt before weaving, so that the final pattern appears only on completion – is the most spectacular ever produced by the textile art in Southeast Asia.

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Poleng, or chessboard pattern of alternating black and white squares is surely the most distinguished motif of Balinese cloth. One can hardly miss the presence of a poleng cloth around him due to the striking contrast of colors used in the motif. But poleng is not made for attracting attention of the onlookers, it express Balinese point of view towards life.

Since Poleng is the national color of Bali, it can be found virtually everywhere in the island. Poleng clothes are usually wound round big tree trunks, big rocks, statues and shrines. Banners, flags, and umbrellas that are used in a procession of the ceremony sometimes made of poleng clothes. Poleng clothes are also used by the Balinese traditional security forces (pecalang), poleng cloth is considered to be an obligatory part of pecalang outfits. There is also a warrior dance (baris) which is called Baris Poleng. As its name suggests, the dancers’ apparels consist predominantly of poleng clothes.

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