A Never-Ending Quest for Holy Water
Thursday, January 18th, 2007 by ablteamHoly Water is an indispensable part of Balinese Hinduism; the importance of Holy Water is shown by the older generation of Balinese who still calls the Balinese Hinduism as ‘Agama Tirtha‘, (the religion of Holy Water). No ceremony in Balinese Hinduism can be called perfect or finish without the presence of Holy Water. If a Balinese cannot attend a temple ceremony or other kind of ceremony, he simply asks for Holy Water that is obtained from the temple where the ceremony is held or the Holy Water that is distributed in other kind of ceremony.
Obtaining Holy Water is an obligatory part of every ceremony in Bali. For a small ceremony in a household compound, the Holy Water is usually obtained from a high priest, for a bigger ceremony in a household compound the Holy Water is usually obtained from the nearby Holy spring (beji). For a small ceremony in a temple, the Holy Water is usually obtained from the nearby Holy spring (beji) but for a bigger ceremony, it is obtained from the sea. For a grand ceremony such as Eka Dasa Rudra (centennial purification of the universe), the Holy Water is not just obtained from the sea but also from the Mount Semeru in East Java and Mount Rinjani in Lombok.
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