The Barong is a benevolent figure in Balinese religion, used like a Chinese lion or dragon dance to chase away evil spirits and bring good fortune.
The banten tegeh offerings carried to the temple on festival days can weigh up to 20 kg, with the size and contents depending on the importance of the ceremony.
Monstrous effigies called ogoh-ogoh are hand-crafted by dozens of men for weeks leading up to the Balinese New Year celebrations before being engulfed in flames within minutes.
A temple priest known as a pemangku will often guide and bless worshippers, even if the temple itself, at Tanah Lot, is inaccessible because of high tide.
Many temples are often, by definition, perched along hills, mountains and volcanoes. Invariably, attendance involves a lengthy walk, often followed by a strenuous climb through the gapura or gateway.
Traditional dances and shows, such as fire breathing, are still performed, if mainly for the benefit of fee-paying tourists.
Ceremonial Outfits and Temple Etiquette
To please the gods during temple ceremonies, Balinese Hindus dress up in their finest outfits according to traditional customs. Men wear kamen sarongs, short-sleeved shirts or jackets and white head-cloths called udeng. Women also appear resplendent in their colorful kebaya blouses and kamen sarongs with cloth belts (selempot). Foreigners are welcome to observe ceremonies but not participate unless specifically invited. If so, they’re expected to wear appropriate ceremonial attire and make a small donation to help with the significant costs of maintaining the temple and holding the ceremony. When visiting temples, tourists must wear a sarong and, if possible, a temple sash (selendang) as a sign of respect. These can be borrowed at major temples. A temple is not only a place of worship but a sacred building. Some rules are obvious, for example, never enter if a sign forbids non-Hindus; always remain quiet and distant; and be sensible about filming, for example, don’t use a flash. Other s are less so: never walk in front of anyone praying or position yourself higher than a priest. Also, women who are pregnant, menstruating or have given birth within the previous 42 days, as well as anyone grieving, bleeding or sick, is forbidden to enter because they are spiritually unclean (sebel).
Rules about the position of the body and hands are strictly adhered to while praying at temples.
Each village funds its own orchestra or gamelan, including massive bronze gongs, which are used during temple ceremonies and family rituals.
Women often walk vast distances to ceremonies carrying weighty offerings called banten tegeh on their heads, but need some help loading up.
During ceremonies, boys and girls of all ages are happy to dress up in traditional attire and help make offerings beforehand.
Because of the expense, a whole roast pig is usually reserved for special temple ceremonies. The cost and the cooked meat are often shared by several families.
To ensure the soul’s proper release and reincarnation, cremations are lavish affairs that can take years to save for and organize. The ceremony usually involves hundreds of people.
Temples and Temple Ceremonies
Balinese are villagers at heart, so hundreds of villages are spread across the island. Places like Ubud, for example, are really an amalgamation of a dozen or more villages. Each village has at least three types of pura (temple): the pura desa (village temple), also called the pura agung, which is located in the village center and created to appease spirits that protect the villagers; the pura puseh (temple of origin), positioned in the direction of kaja, which is closest to the mountains and home of the gods, and dedicated to Brahma, Creator of the Universe; and the pura dalem (temple of the dead), situated in kelod, nearest to the sea where demons live, and used for cremations. Nine of these temples are sacred enough to be revered by all Balinese Hindus, not just local villagers, among them Pura Besakih, Pura Goa Lawah and Pura Luhur Ulu Watu. Others are also particularly valued because of their dedication to specific spirits, historical importance or nomination as official state temples.
Temples are typically fronted by a candi bentar (split gate) which leads to one or two outer courtyards with several bale (open-air pavilions) for resting, cooking and preparing for ceremonies, as well as a kul-kul tower with a drum used to announce events. Through another ceremonial gate is the sacred inner courtyard with small shrines dedicated to village elders and lesser gods, and several tall meru shrines, shaped like pagodas, with thatched roofs of an odd number up to eleven, depending on which deity and mountain the meru is dedicated to. Given the Balinese passion for, and skill in, carving and painting, temples are ornately decorated, with every chiseled gate and sculptured roof carrying meaning and purpose.
Each of the temples in every village is celebrated on the anniversary of its founding (odalan), usually according to the wuku Balinese calendar, which is shorter at 210 days. On holy days also, such as the major Galungan and Kuningan festivals, and for personal rituals, particularly cremations, families visit every temple they’re associated with, thus attending ceremonies takes up a significant proportion of their time and income.
For each ceremony, temples are decorated with colorful batik and shrines are wrapped in yellow and white cloths, while enormous offerings are made to satisfy the spirits who then grant happiness and health to the families. Ceremonies last all day, often several days, and involve much eating, ritualized dancing and, of course, worshipping, praying and reflecting under the guidance and blessing of the pedanda (high priest) or pemangku (temple priest).
Special holy men are called upon to perform sacred rituals in family compounds, such as when a child’s teeth are filed.
Fingers and palms are always firmly clasped together when praying, and hands are briefly raised above the head during moments of particularly deep spiritual connection.
The temple or high priest performs a spiritual purification of the household and is always seated on a platform raised above the level of the worshippers.
Tourists often stumble across ceremonies while traveling about or even sitting on a beach in Kuta. Otherwise, visit a major temple (particularly during full moon), look for signs stating hati-hati ada upacara agama (“be careful, there’s a religious ceremony”), or ask locals. The best temples to visit for their setting and piety are Pura Besakih, the vast sacred