In the paradise island of Bali, when it comes to offering (banten) for the ceremony the Balinese women holds the sway. Balinese women prepare all the offerings (banten) that is needed for the ceremony. If you look at glance you can see that the stuffs called banten consists of various parts and hard to remember all in a few minutes. Each stuff has its own role and function. Sometimes if banten is not complete then traditional ceremony can not be held. There is a stuff named tumpeng which is need in several ceremonies.

Tumpeng is made from rice. Balinese women usually form the rice with their hands and with help of shaper. This shaper is usually created by their hands using coconut leaves. Its shape like cone then obviously rice which is put into it will have the same form and Balinese call it tumpeng. In order to produce tight and firm tumpeng Balinese women should press the rice to the cone using their thumb. Their thumb will be tired when they have to make 100 until 300 tumpeng in each Galungan and Kuningan day.

(more…)

In an uncontrolled fit of temper Giriputri the mountain goddess and wife of Bhatara Siwa, had so mistreated her child Sanghyang Kumara that Siwa banished her to the middle world. There she was to remain, ugly, with large, flaccid breasts and demonic canine teeth, and rule the death temple and the burial and cremation grounds. From this moment on, humanity in the realm of Medan Kumulan was afflicted by pestilence and death.

Much later the god Siwa felt an urge to visit Giriputri, whom he had cursed and who was now known as Bhatari Durga. After transforming himself into the demonic Sang Hyang Kala Rudra, he met Durga at a crossroads, copulated with her and thus begot the three demons, Bhuta Bang (The red Demon), Bhuta Sweta (The White Demon) and Bhuta Ireng (The Black Demon). Together with the spirits of disease Bhuta Brelaga, they now caused terror and disaster throughout the country.

In great concern over the future of humanity, Bhatara Brahma, eldest son of the divine couple Siwa and Giriputri, summoned his two younger brothers Wisnu and Iswara to a conference. After Bhatara Wisnu had thought the problem over carefully, he suggested that all there brother should appear in the middle world as priests to arrange for various necessary measures to be taken against their parents’ demonic emanations.

(more…)

When a grand ceremony is held, the performance of Wayang Lemah is obligatory. As its name suggest Wayang Lemah is always performed in the daylight (“wayang” means “puppet” and “lemah” means “day”) and is usually performed as long as the high priest officiates the ceremony. Wayang Lemah is an exorcistic play, it is performed primarily for invisible audiences: the spirit, divinities and the demons, it is a part of ceremony which functions to ensure the success of a ceremony and obviously not an entertainment for mortals.

The stage for Wayang Lemah is simpler than the spectacular Wayang Peteng (Night Shadow Puppet) since it does not need a screen and wick lamp and there will be no shadow. Wayang Lemah stage consists of three young, cut banana trunks for placing the puppet during the play (the pointed handle of the puppet can easily stuck into soft banana trunks), on either side of long banana trunk, which runs across and forms the actual stage, two big branches of evergreen dapdap tree had been pushed vertically through the banana trunk into the ground; at top they branched out in three directions symbolizing Hindu trinity.

(more…)

At the beginning of the creation, when earth was only 70 years old, the island of Bali was instable; earthquakes happened everyday for months, torrents rains, with constant lightning and thunders was the only weather. The god Pacupati, who resides in Mount Sumeru saw this condition and sent his three children to stabilize the island of Bali. His three children Hyang Gni Jaya, Hyang Putra Jaya and Dewi Danu came to Bali and reside in three different places; Dewi Danu resides on Mount Batur, Hyang Putra Jaya resides on Mount Agung, and Hyang Gni Jaya resides in Lempuyang Luhur.

flickr.com/photos/yeowatzup/

Lempuyang Luhur temple is a sacred temple which is located on the top of Belibis Hill, northeast of Mount Agung, in Karangasem regency. Lempuyang is one of the six major Temple in Bali besides Andakasa Temple, Uluwatu Temple, Watukaru Temple, Ulun Danu Batur Temple and Besakih Temple. In Balinese cosmogony, Lempuyang Luhur is considered temple of the East, the abode of god Iswara, keeper of the peace.

(more…)

Crossroad is one of many revered and feared spot in Bali. offering are given to the spirits who dwell on that crossroad sometimes a statue is erected as a symbolization to honor the spirit in that place and as a guardian to ensure the safety of passing people.

The main crossroad in any Balinese village becomes the center of the village, the central point for community activities and ceremonial events. Palace, market and village temple are build around the crossroad since the intersection is an open space where the four cardinals points meet so it is easy to be reached from all parts of the village.

(more…)