Bali, a land of temples, art, worship and rice

A few years ago we travelled to Bali. The island may be just a four-hour flight from Australia but for Europeans, it can take up to 24 hours to get there. So it isn’t a journey to be taken lightly. Fortunately, the rewards are stunning in this land of many contrasts.

While the well-known tourist haunts are very crowded, with a bit of initiative it is really easy to escape the madding crowds. My wife and I made the journey from our home in France to embark on what turned out to be a memorable jaunt. As usual, I packed the Ricoh GR camera that has been my trusted travel camera for nearly a decade.

Rice paddies

One of the most striking aspects of the island once you get off the beaten track, are the rice paddies. The fields are irrigated by the complex “subak” water system known which is ecologically sustainable.

The system was first developed over a thousand years ago, in the 9th century CE. Subaks consist of a forest surrounding a spring, a temple and five tiers of terraced rice fields watered by a complex irrigation system. Religion and agriculture intermingle as they have done for a millennium.

According to Wikipedia, water management is under the authority of the water-temple priests, who practise Tri Hita Karana philosophy embodying the relationship between humans, the earth and the gods.

Tri Hita Karana draws together the realm of spirit, the human world and nature. The overall subak system exemplifies this philosophical principle. Water-temple rituals promote a harmonious relationship between people and their environment through the active engagement ritual concepts that emphasize dependence on the life-sustaining forces of the natural world. Rice is seen as the gift of God, and the subak system is part of the temple culture.”

The cycle of rice cultivation is a long process that starts with the preparation of the field for planting. When the ground is approximately levelled, farmers can use steam-powered ploughs. But that is largely impossible in the terraced fields where all the work has to be done by hand. It is terribly hard work as people have to work in mud up to their knees.

Rice can then be planted. After harvest, stalks are gathered into small rice stacks before being dried in the sun to have them ready for the final processing.

These rice fields are truly magnificent with their flashy green colours.

Temples

Balinese Hinduism is the main religion of the island. Temples are known locally as “Pura”, the word originating from Sanskrit. There are two major types of temples; the mountain variety built on the slope of a mountain or near a volcano, and the water temples constructed near a lake or by the sea. They are usually enclosed by walls and may contain some sacred baths. Within the wall, you find shrines in the shape of “meru” (towers) or “bale” (pavilions). You often find two types of gates to enter temples, the split gates or the roofed gates. The towers are particularly impressive.

Sculptures and conservation

The Balinese are wonderful craftspeople and carvers. Their temples and sculptures are well-maintained and regularly restored.

Tropical rains, which fall daily, take their inevitable toll on the sculptures and masonry. And, from our experience, the centre of the island is more prone to huge downpours, lasting for a few minutes, than are the coastal areas. Many sculptures are often partly covered by moss.

In particular, we appreciated the sculptures of various gods. The Garudas (small monsters that protect the temples), incidentally, are pretty similar to the ones you can find in Angkor, Cambodia.

Religion

The profound religious nature of the Balinese is quite remarkable and omnipresent. Outside most houses or in nature you will find small altars that are daily filled with small offerings for the gods. These gifts consist mainly of flowers, food and incense sticks.

Preparing religious celebrations is a communal activity that involves most residents of the neighbouring subak or village. This practice is widespread on the island. Small offering plates are often made of banana leaves and bamboo.

Regularly cleaning their temples seems to be part of their religious worship, something you will find in many Asian countries.

These religious celebrations are often accompanied by dances. We stumbled on young girls preparing to perform dances in a temple in Denpasar, the island capital. The children are carefully prepared with make-up, headdress and sometimes tiaras

Before praying in the temple, when possible people purify themselves in holy pools. They can then go inside the temple. However, these purifying baths are not practised in all the temples. There’s an atmosphere of quietness within the temples. The traditional male headdresses and the female batiks (a printed piece of cloth used to make shirts or dresses) are really beautiful.

As usual in my travels, I really appreciated the small Ricoh GR for its unthreatening unobtrusiveness, aided by the silent shutter.

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