As the sun sets and darkness replaces the illumination of the sunlight, night makes its way to the earth. “Night” is a phenomenon that all nations in the world have their own point of view, including Balinese. Balinese has their perspective on dealing with night. However, this perspective has greatly changed in the course 50 years due to modernization and tourism.

Title: The Dagger Attack On Rangda, Artist: I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, Media: Ink and tempera on papper, Size: 24 x 33 cm, Year: 1939s, Courtesy: Neka Art Museum.

In the bygone days, night was considered as the time for supernatural beings, malignant spirits, bhuta kala, leak (witch) filled the darkness of the night. The older generation of Balinese see the night as a dangerous time for traveling outside the house compound, though the gamelan at that time was held in the evening but it never lasted until late at night.

What made the night so frightful in those days? Leak (witch) was the answer. Malignant spirits and bhuta kala are believed to be ferocious at dusk and the night is the time for the witches to exercise their magic and fighting among them. My mother and grandmother still can recall the night they watch a leak fight, though all they can see at that time is the collision of two balls of fire. (Covarrubias also gives an account of leak fight in Denpasar in his book “The Island of Bali”. Leak at that time also credited for harassing people who dared to go out during the nighttime.

(more…)

“The roads are particularly infested with miserable dogs, the scavenger of the island. Most dogs are attached to the house they protect and keep clean the garbage, but they reproduce unchecked and there are thousands homeless living skeletons, covered with ulcers and mange, that bark and wail all night in great choruses. The Balinese are not disturbed by them and sleep perfectly through the hideous noise. The curs are supposed to frighten away witches and evil spirits, but I could never discover how our neighbors knew when it was an ordinary mortal and not the devil that the dog barked at; they always awoke when a stranger came into the house at night. Such dogs were undoubtedly provided by the gods to keep Bali from perfection.”

This passage was taken from Covarrubias’s Bali; it provides an image of Balinese dogs in 1930s. Though this image is no longer relevant for nowadays situation, but some part of the image can still be found in the rural areas of Bali. Back on the village streets the dogs still roam freely, still serve as the scavengers, still bark and wail all night in great choruses but the numbers are greatly reduced from thousands to dozens and only very few of them can be categorized as “homeless living skeletons, covered with ulcers and mange”.

(more…)

In general the Balinese are very frank in actions that would be out of question among us, such as clearing the throat, spitting, and so forth. These are perfectly normal actions no one needs to conceal. (Covarrubias)

Humor is one of the most difficult aspects of culture for an outsider to appreciate. Much Balinese humor is rather direct and unsubtle. Bawdy jokes and allusion are part of daily conversations. But one must be an insider to appreciate such humor as is involved with my baldness. It is not unusual for a Balinese, upon seeing my shining pate, to say: “bung ujan” – “the rain has been cancelled”. Or he might say “sing meli TV” – “I don’t want to buy a TV”. The first of these gems compare a bald head to a clear sky, the second refers to smooth face of a TV tube. (Eiseman, Jr)

In Bali, to be teased is to be accepted. It was the turning point so far as our relationship to the community was concerned, and we were quite literally “in.” (Clifford Geertz)

(more…)

The word Gamelan is a Balinese term for “orchestra”; there are many types of Gamelan in Bali. Gamelan is a generic term, and there is dozen or more completely different kind of ensembles. Gamelan is a percussion-dominated musical ensemble.

The instruments that are used in a Gamelan ensemble usually consist of

Gangsas
Metallophones that look like xylophones, called gangsas, consist of a carved often gilded, frame containing bamboo resonator over which a series of bronze keys are suspended by hide lacing. The bronze keys are hit with little wooden hammers which causes bamboo resonators below the keys to vibrate. They may have four to fourteen keys and are grouped in matching pairs according to size and number of key. After the keys have been hit by the hammer in the right hand, the left hand immediately grasps the key to stop the sound merging in the next note.

(more…)