On June 28th, at 10.00 in the morning Art Center was filled with visitors. Men-women, young-old, and native-foreigners seemed never want to blink their eyes as if they did not want to miss a thing from this show. They were hypnotized. Wherever the show went then those people would follow it as if they were the part of this show.

Bali Art Festival does not just present Balinese handmade goods or Balinese culinary heritage but also performances that begin to be neglected. One of them is Nglawang. This show had been presented twice to re-popularize it to the people, especially to the Balinese children.

Nglawang actually is a Balinese tradition aiming to ward a village from disasters. This tradition is similar to Pangrebongan which is held in Kesiman village (see the article). Nglawang is usually held after Kuningan day in several villages in Bali but it becomes rare ritual to be held in the town nowadays.

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Many Balinese students after they graduate from Senior High school go outside Bali to continue their study instead of studying in Bali. As a result from Bali has only one state university and it has only limited majors to choose. They usually go to the west, to the big cities in Java, which serve many better and famous colleges and more majors to choose. They got better study, and yet how about their religious and cultural activities that they always did in Bali?

Actually, there, outside of Bali, are Pura (hindus’s temple) moreover there is Banjar (the smallest society organization in Bali) like in Surabaya. I Made Kris Adi Astra, one of Balinese who is studying in Jakarta complained about there is no Pura in his campus. He must ride a motorbike to reach pura Amerta Sari in bintaro. “But I prefer praying in my room. If my mood is good I will go to Pura in Cinere” he added.

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Thousands of temples that scattered all over the island of Bali can be compared to thousands of living organisms. They need to be taken care of and this arduous task is the responsibility of thousands of pemangkus, or temple priests, who devotes their lives toperseverance of the temples. Each temple in Bali has its own pemangku, a pemangku is the guardian, overseer, priest, in short, the one who responsible for the needs of a temple and its congregation.

A pemangku can be easily recognized among the crowd of worshippers by his white attires and his special headdress which covers the upper part of the head (headdress for lay man does not cover the upper section of the head). He usually sits higher that the rest of the temple congregations. Most pemangkus are men, but there is no gender restriction, and one sometimes sees a woman in this role.

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Head cloth, or udeng is the most striking part of Balinese traditional dress. An udeng is actually a piece of square cloth about one meter on each side. It may have overall design but it is usually symmetrical. The wearer folds the cloth into a triangle rolls up the long end several times until the remaining triangle is small enough to cover the head, and ties it to the head. The entire udeng is tied to the head in such way that the point of the triangle faces toward the rear and the knot is centered on the forehead, then one side of the triangle is pulled behind the knot, making a crest known as “jambul,” after the tuff of feather on the head of some birds.

There are many style of udeng; above mentioned technique is used to make a general udeng which are widely used by Balinese men. Some men prefer to use different style of udeng to distinguish themselves from the crowd but some use a different kind of udeng as a mark of their social or religious role, for example: priest used a distinguished style of udeng, known as “udeng mangku” as a sign of priesthood; this style has a knot on the back of the head and the triangle cover the head. Pecalang (traditional security force) also use a unique style of udeng known as jejantaran as sign of their role as a security force.

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Pura Samuan Tiga, an exceptionally unique temple situated in the village of Bedulu, 25 km from Denpasar, 5 km from Ubud, and only 400 m from Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah) sanctuary. Built in 10^th century in the reign of King Chandrasangka Warmadewa, this sacred temple was the royal temple of ancient Warmadewa dynasty. As suggest by its name, Balinese believe that Pura Samuan Tiga is a venue for the great meeting of the gods, deities, and saints – the word “samuan” means “meeting” and “tiga” means “three.”

This sacred temple is flanked by a meeting of two rivers – river Pande and river Tegending – on the east side and a reminiscent of an ancient pool on the west side and sacred trees such as banyan, pule and curiga which grow around the temple serve as giant umbrella. Unlike other Balinese’s temples that consist of three courtyards, Samuan Tiga temple has seven courtyards separated by walls and split gates, connected only by stairs that leading up to the innermost courtyard, the meeting hall of gods, deities and saints.

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Animal sacrifices or using animals in religious ceremonies is obligatory in Bali. Most of Balinese ceremonies require one or more animal to be scarified. Killing animal in this way is not considered a cruelty. When animal is killed in sacrifice, it acquires karma, enough perhaps, to allow it to be reincarnated at higher level. The body is not important to the Hindu faithful. It is shell. Animal that is killed for a sacrifice is always treated with a great reverence. Offering are made to it. Mantras are recited, asking for improved status in the next life. An animal cannot be sacrificed without these prayers and offerings.

Animals that are sacrificed are various range from chicken, duck, goose, pig, dog, turtle, goat, water buffaloes, eagles even tiger. The animal sacrifices mostly occur in Bhuta Yadnya (rites for demon) ceremonies since demons love to see and taste blood and flesh. This bhuta yadnya is usually conducted to appease the demon and to restore the balance of positive and negative force.

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