Late in the afternoon, when the farmers had just arrived home from the rice fields, when the factory workers ride home on their motorcycles, and when the children take bath after more than three hours of playing, Balinese usually begin to enjoy their leisure time with various activities, and the most popular activity to spend this leisure time is hanging around in front of the house or on the side of the street.

For the Balinese, the streets in front of their houses are their living rooms. Watching the vehicles go by while chatting with friends or relative on the benches in front of their houses is a favorite pastime for the Balinese. But sometimes Balinese bring their fighting cocks, while chatting they give massage to their roosters and discuss the merits or demerits of the fowls.

photo taken from flickr.com/photos/cafiso/

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Farmers of central and south Bali, which cultivate the lion share of the rice fields in the island of Bali only need to glance up to clouds which hanging around Mount Batur to be reminded of the ultimate origin of the water that flow into their fields and become the lifeline of agriculture in central and south Bali. Yes, in the crater of Mount Batur, stretching over 1,718 hectares is Lake Batur, an immense fresh water lake that is regarded as the ultimate source of water for rivers and springs that provide irrigation water for central and south Bali.

Lake Batur is regarded as the abode of Dewi Danu (goddess of the lake) which controls all the water that flow from this lake hence all the water that flow into the rice fields in central and south Bali. Since the rice fields are greatly depends on flow of water from the lake, the farmers of central and south Bali has a strong relationship with the goddess of the lake, spiritually all the rice fields which draw their water from the lake are belong to the goddess of the lake. This relationship is succinctly defined in a sacred manuscript known as Rajapurana Ulun Danu Batur, which is kept in the temple of the lake, “Because the goddess makes the water flow, those who do not follow her laws may not posses her rice fields”.

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Jembrana Regency, located on the far western coast of the island, is Bali’s most sparsely populated district and rarely visited by mainstream international travellers’. There is an expanding Islamic community here due to the close proximity to the island of Java and over the centuries there has always been an interesting blend of Muslim and Hindu cultural traditions. However, the regency of Jembrana does in fact come to life several times a year for an attraction known as makepung or water buffalo racing.

photo taken from trekearth.com/members/hubertjanuar/

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