Flowers are important things for Balinese, since in every single day, Balinese need flowers for praying and also as offering to God. However not many Balinese know what kind of flowers is appropriate for praying and offering such as Canang (an opened-square made from coconut leaves use in praying and giving tribute to God).

Based on Ngurah Nala’s article (Sarad Magazine edition January 22nd 2002), Actually all flowers can be used for praying. Although, there are some rule in choosing flower in order to use them for praying. Flower which is withering are forbidden to use. Moreover, using flower that is picked from the ground because it falls off from its twig is also forbidden.

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Did you ever attend a Balinese Wedding party? And had meals there? Take a look at what do Balinese use to serve the food? Yes, Balinese usually use ‘ingka’ as a substitute for plate in many ceremonies. It has similar form and function with plate.

Ingka is a kind of plate that is made from spine of ivory-colored coconut leaves. Those spines are woven like a plate. On the average, one ingka needs 105 spines. Well, how many coconut leave spines are needed if we want to make 100 ingka? More or less they need 10500. Yet, Bali has abundance of materials to make Ingka.

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Omen for Balinese is an important thing and it can be a serious problem if it occurs inside a house compound. For Balinese an ill omen if it occurs inside a house compound, it signifies that the house compound is “hot”. A “hot” house compound in Balinese point of view is not fit for living since it will bring misfortune for its inhabitants, make them ill, confuse, short tempered, quarrel with no apparent reason, and have short life span.

Omen that occurs in a house compound that signifies the “hot” condition of the house compound is usually in the form of the birth of strange animal for example a cat with three eyes, a dog with two tails, etc; the appearance of strange plant such as coconut with two or three branches; bees or wasps make a nest inside the house; snakes come out of nowhere inside the house compound; blood come out of nowhere, thousands of worms come out of nowhere in the house compound or big fungus growth on the wall of the house.

Accident, death, or fight that cause blood to be shed on the ground is considered an ill omen that signifies a “hot” house compound. Accidents that can be classified as an ill omen are as follow: a tree falls down on the house or family temple with no apparent reason; a house, a kitchen or family temple falls down; someone runs amuck into the house compound or some injured himself badly until blood shed to the ground.

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Galungan, a Christmas for Balinese will soon come. And if you happen to visit Bali on Galungan day you will be hailed by thousands of Penjor along the roadside all over of Bali.

What is Penjor? Penjor is made from a long bamboo pole about eight meter high with curved end, and decorated with palm leaves, rice paddies, corn on the cob, coconut, cakes, a piece of white or yellow cloth, etc. It is the symbol of Mount Agung and also as gratitude for the agricultural produce. The arched top of the bamboo pole represents Mount Agung, the body of the pole is a river that flows from the mountains to the sea, and along its route are the products of the harvest, tied to the pole.

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Every region must have their own tradition which is inherited from their ancestor. Such as India with their ‘mangal sutra’ tradition and the dowry from the bride, Japan for their tea ceremony and also the growth day for them who have reached the age of 20, and many other traditions around the world. And so does Indonesia with its various areas must have diversity on its tradition. One of them is Bali.

Gebogan offering

Bali is so popular with its ‘banten’ (means in the Balinese worship which is usually made from young coconut leaves and contains fruits, flowers, leaves, betel vine, cakes, and sesari – a little money as an offering). There are many kinds of ‘banten’, hundreds might be. It is so amazing that the old people are able to remember those kinds of ‘banten’ for each different ceremony meanwhile most of the young Balinese generations do not understand on ‘banten’ and everything related on it. That’s why this sentence appears; “It’s quite difficult to be a Balinese, isn’t it?”

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Have you ever tasted Lawar – Balinese traditional food? Lawar is one of the most favorite foods after roasted pork in Bali which contains pork, green jackfruit, grated coconut, frying oil, coconut milk, citrus leaf, and complete Balinese spices (turmeric, ‘kencur’ (kaempferia galangal), ginger, pepper, ‘kemiri’ (candlenut), ‘ketumbar’ (corriandrum sativum), ‘pala’ (myristica fragrans), brown coconut tree, ‘jangu’, salt, and lime), chilies, onion, and garlic.

flickr.com/photos/awabi_mushi_77/

Lawar was usually made one day before the Galungan day (Christmas a la Balinese), it is called ‘Penampahan day’. The pig is slaughtered as the symbol of killing the animal’s nature in the human individuality, so it was not consumed every time and every where. But with the passing of the time as the development of the tourism sector it becomes one of the daily cuisines.

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