Bali Artilce: About Bali

Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia. It is one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital in Denpasar towards the south of the island. Bali is home to a population of over 3 million, the vast majority of which are Indonesia's small Hindu minority. Bali is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.

Bali lies between Java in the West and Lombok in the East. The island is 153 km long and 112 km wide (95 by 69 miles) with a surface area of 5,633 km². It is famous for its beautiful landscape. A chain of six volcanoes, between 1,350 meters and 3,014 meters high, stretches from west to east. There are lush tropical forests, pristine crater lakes, fast flowing rivers and deep ravines and picturesque rice terraces and fertile vegetable and fruit gardens cover its alluvial plains.

The island is surrounded by coral reefs. The beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black and grey volcanic sand. Bali has two active volcanoes. Mount Agung, Bali’s highest peak, rises to an impressive height of 3,142 m (10,308 feet). It last erupted in March 1963. An eruption around 30,000 years ago, from Mount Batur, Bali’s second active volcano was recoded as of one of the largest known volcanic events on Earth. The mountainous region covers Bali from its centre to the eastern side of the island. It is due to this terrain that the roads tend to follow the crests of the ridges across the mountains and the coast.

Anthropologists have suggested that the Balinese are an amalgamation of a number of races; The Chinese from the North, the Indians and the Arabs from the west and other racial groups coming directly to Bali, or by way of Java, from the east. They are blessed with golden-bronze skin, long, glossy black hair, charm and mystical smiles, happily living in a rich and dynamic culture. Although Bali has been influenced by numerous cultures throughout the ages, there are still pockets of villages where fraternization with outsiders is restricted. This is a people and a society that is known as the Bali Aga (Old Bali) which allows us a glimpse into the traditional culture of a Bali centuries past.

Balinese society is very community oriented. A person in Bali cannot exist in solitude. Much of the rituals require massive effort which the village shoulders co-operatively. Everyone has their role to play; from playing an instrument in the orchestra to dancing in ceremonies. This too, can be observed in their young. As the parents go to plant rice or tend to their daily duties, the children, all of whom are seen always on their best behavior, play with their age group but are constantly under careful watch of the older ones. Fights seldom occur and loud screams or cries are even rarer, as if they have been taught to be at harmony with their surroundings.
The Balinese have an interesting built in population-control mechanism through their naming structure. In Bali, the first child is called Wayan, the second child is Made, the third child is Nyoman and the fourth, the last, is Ketut. If one family should have more than four, traditionally, it’s back to Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut. The culture discourages a family having more than four children.

Some say that the Balinese people have reached the height of self-contentment. It is not an exaggeration when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he would say, “Just like Bali without the worries of mundane life”. The Balinese want to live in Bali and be re-incarnated in Bali. This does not imply that the Balinese are resistant to change. Instead, they adapt change into their own system of living.

Bali Hinduism is a faith that has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism. It adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenes peoples which inhabited the island around the first millennium BC. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil.

Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual and is less preoccupied with scripture, law and belief than Islam in Indonesia. In their arts, traditional paintings faithfully depicting religious and mythological symbolism meets with foreign influences that have given birth to contemporary works. They are free in their creative thinking yet strongly and distinctively Balinese. Wood and stone carvings, gold and silver crafts parallel the development of paintings, gracefully evolving with external forces to enhance their characters. In their dance, music and theater is laden with religious connotations again performed mostly to appease and to please the gods and the goddesses.

Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.

Bali's natural attractions include miles of sandy beaches, picturesque rice terraces, towering active volcanoes over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) high, fast flowing rivers, deep ravines, pristine crater lakes, sacred caves and lush tropical forests full of exotic wildlife.

The island's rich cultural heritage is visible everywhere - in over 20,000 temples and palaces, in the many colorful festivals and ceremonies (including tooth filings and cremations) and in its drama, music and dance.

Bali can be experienced in many different excursions; guided tours by coach, private car or "Big Bike", by boat or by air plane and helicopter. Seeing Bali's beaches and rice terraces, the famous Besakih Temple on the slopes of holy Mount Agung, Lake Batur and its active volcano and the temples of Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu from the air is a really spectacular experience.

The first stop is often in the village of Batubulan to watch a performance of the Barong and Kris Dance. Afterwards you visit the villages of Celuk (silver jewelry) and Mas (wood carving) to see Balinese artisans at work. Ubud, Bali's cultural center, has grown to a busy town with numerous Balinese art galleries and shops. A scenic drive over small roads overlooking beautiful rice terraces brings you to the mountain village of Kintamani (about 5,000 feet above the sea) which offers stunning views of Lake Batur and the volcano. You can then cross the crater-lake below the still active Mount Batur and visit the ‘Bali Aga’ village of Trunyan then return through traditional villages with stops in Tampaksiring to visit the temple of Tirta Empul and to visit the Elephant Cave "Goa Gajah", a hermitage from the 11th. century used by both Buddhists and Hindus.

Drive to Besakih through various villages visiting on the way a weaving factory, see the famous painted ceiling at the old "Palace of Justice" in Klungkung, and visit the school of painting in Kamasan. The "Mother Temple" in Besakih is Bali's most holy and Indonesia's biggest Hindu temple. It was built in the 11th century at an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) on the slopes of Mount Agung. You pass picturesque rice terraces on the way to the walled ‘Bali Aga’ village of Tenganan and continue to Candi Dasa on the East coast. On the way back it's recommended to stop at the famous Bat Cave ‘Goa Lawah’ to see the thousands of bats hanging from the walls inside.

After a stop in Sangeh to visit its holy forest inhabited by wild monkeys, drive up into the mountains to Lake Beratan (1,200 meters above sea level) and the picturesque water temple Ulu Danu. Visit the busy flower, fruit and spice market in Candikuning and drive back through small country roads, villages and rice fields, with a stop in an artisan village specializing in gold threaded textiles (Ikat) worn during important ceremonies.

Drive the scenic road via Pupuan through the mountains to Bali's North coast. You'll enjoy beautiful views of picturesque rice terraces and large plantations growing vanilla, chocolate, coffee, cloves and even grapes for Bali’s own wineries. Near the village of Banjar is a popular hot spring where you can take a bath in the natural pond. After a lunch on the black beach in Lovina you pass the old capital of Singaraja on the way to Git Git, famous for its multi-tier water fall. Return over back roads to see the unspoiled Bali. (This tour can be combined with the visit to Bedugul.)

Visit the artisan villages of Batubulan (stone carving), Celuk (silver & gold jewelry), Mas (wood carving), and Pengosekan (painting). Stop at the "Bali Art Market" in Sukawati to bargain for all kinds of handicrafts and textiles.
Since the 1930s, Ubud has been known around the world as Bali's cultural center. Today Ubud is a fast growing town with numerous art galleries and shops offering paintings, wood carvings and textiles. Don't miss the MUSEUM PURI LUKISAN in the center of Ubud, the NEKA MUSEUM in Campuhan, the NEKA GALLERY in Ubud, the AGUNG RAI GALLERY in Peliatan, and the AGUNG RAI MUSEUM in Pengosekan to see the difference between creative art and more commercial products. A visit to the SENIWATI GALLERY - ART BY WOMEN, founded in 1991 by Mary Northmore (the very personable wife of famous painter Abdul Azis) to help Balinese women to be accepted as artists, is a must. This gallery highlights the long understated brilliance of independent women artists’ resident in Bali and motivates, trains, and encourages young Balinese girls with creative talents.