Bali Culture

The culture of Bali is unique. People say that the Balinese people have reached self-content. It is not an exaggeration that when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he would say, just like Bali, without the worries of mundane life. They want to live in Bali, to be cremated in Bali when they die, and to reincarnate in Bali.

It does not mean that the Balinese resist changes. Instead, they adapt it to their own system. This goes back far in history. Prior to the arrival of Hinduism in Bali and in other parts of Indonesia, people practice animism. When Hinduism arrives, the practice of Hinduism is adapted to local practices. The brand of Hinduism practiced in Bali is much different from that in India. Other aspects of life flow this way.

The foundations of Bali's rich cultural tradition are firmly rooted in its unique religious heritage. The early immigrants, who arrived by sea and settled along the north coast some two-and-a-half millennia ago, brought with them beliefs that still echo through the ages to the present day. Essentially animist, they worshipped the forces of nature and the spirits resident in rocks, trees and dark, mysterious river gorges. They also brought elaborate funerary practices and a reverence for departed, deified ancestors.

Archaeological excavations at Sembiran and Jula reveal that traders from India, carried to-and-fro on seasonal monsoon winds, began to make regular visits to Bali about two thousand years ago, bringing with them fresh ideas and beliefs. Through this casual contact, elements of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy were introduced, along with new notions of kingship and government. Gradually these alien concepts were assimilated and integrated into Balinese society, where they continued to evolve independently, although supplemented periodically by ritual practices imported from neighbouring Java.

Bali enjoys a rich culture, its history recorded in legends and preserved in its religion and the peoples adherence to the traditions of their ancestors. Temples are everywhere, especially in the mountains, where the Hindu Gods sought refuge from the Islamic invaders of Java. The most revered temple is on Gunung Agung, the tallest mountain, and according to legend, "the navel" of the world.

Hindu Bali is a religion which owes its origins to India, but which has developed independently from its forebear. Hindu Bali celebrates its rituals in a highly dramatised form, which can be witnessed by visitors in the form of dance and performance at traditional festivals, and at secular performances.

Bali is very identical with its culture. This relation makes Bali as a magnet for visitors coming to Bali. Among them are certainly difficult to distinguish religion, culture and art. As all of them are integrated into a unity. However, Hindu Religion in Bali seems to be a stream for the development of culture and art in Bali.

The wave of foreign culture is sunk by the current of local culture. If it exists to be a new culture, it will be born as a new concept of culture that is more delightful. Let us see, Patra of Egypt (Egyptian Pattern), Patra of China (Chinese Pattern) or barong ket, barong landung or young artists in Ubud.

Patra of Egypt

Patra of China

barong ket

When this transformation of value entered into (bertiwikrama) the system of Balinese culture, and it became a topic of conversation, it is very difficult to differ whether their conversation involves religious, cultural or art issues, Balinese never care about them. Most of Balinese surrender their understanding on conducts and duties to Hyang Widhi. They call it doing yadnya.