Here is an interesting writing on Buddhism in Bali by venerable S. Dhammika. It is interesting to see the point of view of a Buddhist Monk form outside Bali on Buddhism in Bali.

Much attention has been given to how far west Buddhism extended in ancient times. The most westerly Buddhist monument that can be is the foundations of a large stupa in the south east corner of the ancient citadel of Khiva in Turkmenistan. Small communities of Buddhists may have existed beyond this but if they did they would have been insignificant, isolated and exceptional. We can say therefor that the outer edge of Buddhism in the west was what is now eastern Iran. But how far to the east did Buddhism spread its gentle and civilizing influence? To the outer islands of Indonesia, to Australia or perhaps beyond? In the 1920’s a superb bronze bust of the Buddha was found on Sulawesi, one of the larger islands that make up Indonesia. This is the eastern most point that any Buddhist antiquity has ever been found. There is, though, no evidence of an enduring Buddhist presence either on Sulawesi or beyond it; no ruined temples or monasteries, no inscriptions or references to it in the historical records. However, only a few hundred miles south west of Sulawesi is the small island of Bali where MajapahitG and literary evidence shows that Buddhism existed along side Hinduism for about seven hundred years.

Indian merchants first arrived in Bali in about 200 BCE and it was probably these people who introduced Buddhism and Hinduism. A Balinese work of uncertain date called the Nagarakertagama by the Buddhist monk lists all the Buddhist temples in Bali, twenty six altogether, and mentions that in 1275 King Kretanagara underwent a Tantric Buddhist initiation to protect his kingdom from an expected invasion by Kublai Khan. The island’s history is scant until 1343 when it was conquered by and absorbed into the Majapahit Empire of Java-Sumatra. Hinduism and Buddhism both received state patronage although the type of Buddhism that prevailed gradually became indistinguishable from Hinduism. A Javanese Buddhist work from about the 12th century contains this telling verse. “The one substance is called two, that is, the Buddha and Siva. They say they are different but how can they be divided? Despite differences there is oneness”. Clearly at the time these words were being composed some Buddhists were struggling to maintain the uniqueness of the Dharma while others were stressing its similarity with Hinduism. Eventually in both Java and Bali the integrators prevailed. Incidentally, the phrase “Despite differences there is oneness” ( Bhineka tunggal ika ) has been taken as the motto for the Republic of Indonesia. With the collapse of Mahapahit in 1515 and the ascendancy of Islam, Java’s old intellectual and religious elite, including the last surviving Buddhist monks and scholars sought refuge in Bali.

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Ubud is indisputable center of Balinese art especially for painting with its numerous talented artists and many excellent paintings. However there are artists of talent emerge outside Ubud whose style and substance appear to develop entirely separately, not conforming to the styles that develop in Ubud. And one of these talented artists was I Gusti Made Deblog.

I Gusti Made Deblog was born in 1906 in Taensiat, Denpasar municipality. He learned the art of painting especially portrait painting at the age of thirty-one from his Chinese friend, Yap Sin Tin, who made his living by drawing portrait of his clients with contee (hardened coal) and Chinese ink on paper. Unfortunately drawing portrait was not Deblog’s best talent, hetried to sell his drawing but failed miserably.

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Birds are animals which inspired many choreographers to produced beautiful Balinese contemporary dances. Their energetic and sometimes elegant movements combined with their beautiful feathers are never-ending source of inspiration and imagination for Balinese choreographers to depict in a dance or two. Here are some well known dances which draw their inspiration from birds.

Manuk Rawa dance, from flickr.com/photos/ceklek/

Manuk Rawa
Manuk Rawa dance was the first contemporary dance which based on the movements of the bird to make a great impression on Balinese. Manuk Rawa was created by I wayan Dibia in 1981 as a part of Mahabharata Sendratari (Balinese dance-drama) entitled Bale Gala-gala (house of wax). The dance depicts the life of a flock of waterbirds (manuk rawa) who play freely and peacefully in a pond deep inside the forest. In this dance the traditional movements of Balinese dance is combined with a dance from West Java which depicts the movement of a peacock.

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Every civilization on the face of earth developed its own tale on the cause of eclipse and Balinese has its own version on the cause of the eclipse, and developed a unique practice during an eclipse, though nowadays it is seldom practiced.

Kala Rahu swallowing the sun. Image taken from Bali Sekala Niskala Vol. 1, Fred B. Eiseman, Jr., page 66.

Balinese version of lunar and solar eclipse is taken from a famous section of Mahabharata epic that describes the join effort of gods and demons in churning the sea of milk in order to obtain the elixir of life (tirtha amertha), a holy water that can grant immortality. Using the huge mountain Mandara Giri as the mixer, the gods and demons churned the sea of milk, after truly epic labors, the tirtha amertha was produced on the side of demons. The demons brought the elixir to their base. The god Wisnu, the protector, disguised as a very beautiful girl deceived the demons and stole the tirtha amertha, before they got any chance to drink it. One of the demons, named Kala Rahu, changed his shape and infiltrated into the gods base to drink the holy water.

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I Gusti Nyoman Lempad might be the one of the most talented artists ever born in Bali. He was a master craftsman, designing and building monumental gates, carving temples and palace decorations, making barong mask, cremation towers, nagabandas (papier-mache dragon for royal cremation) and above all painting. He was also well versed in old Balinese literature.

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

I Gusti Nyoman Lempad was born in Bedulu in 1862, he was multi-talented as is father who was also excellent craftsman, architect, and painter. In 1875, his talent offended his patron and fled to Peliatan then to the protection of the court in Ubud; Lempad was 13 at this time. He left behind in Bedulu an important legacy as architect and sculptor. He was an excellent sculptor who reputed in particular to have introduced the unfinished style of in stone sculpture, in this style the characters are roughly hewn and bereft of all iconographic traits.

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