BALINESE OFFERING

Fire, watering and flowers are the basic components of all offerings; additional items are given according to one’s profession and wealth, and the season in which they’re made. No Matter what the offering. It must be of the finest ingredients and ritually cleansed before being placed. The variety is mind-boggling, in countless designs and styles. Some offerings may even be as simple as a few grains of rice placed on a banana leaf. Once you know what to look for, you begin to see offerings everywhere-in rice fields, yards, trees, and temples. Three-meter-long palm-leaf panels and scrolls, acaptivating cili figure with fan-shaped headdress and long, graceful arms. Spectacular, colorful Gebogan or Banten tegeh are enormous towers of up to three meters, embellished with glass, paintings, roast ducks or chickens suckling pigs, pig entrails, garlands of white ‘Cempaka” and fragrant yellow Frangipani / plumeria blossoms. They are carried on the heads of women to the temple, blessed by the Pemangku ( temple priest ) and sprinkled with holy water.

Gods and Goddesses, who protect or threaten every act performed by a person during his or her lifetime, inhabit stone thrones and statues or simply hover in the air. Gods are often invited down to visit earth and are gorged with offerings and entertained with music and dance. but eventually they must go back to heaven. The Balinese always try to stay on the good side of all the forces. If the spirits are kept happy, the people can relax and even grow lighthearted Children carry flowers to shrines and learn to dance at an early age to please the gods and the people.

Feasts mark special periods in an infant’s first days after the first bath, 105 days after birth, and 210 days afterbirth-the first birthday celebration. At each stage of the agricultural cycle ceremonies are held, offering made, and holy texts chanted. Even cockfighting was originally a temple ritual-blood spilled for the gods.

Canang Sari

Offering made of palm leaf, flowers and foodstuffs are an art form associated with every ritual occasion in Bali. The Balinese belief in the forces of the invisible world dictates that offerings be created with a spirit of thankfulness and loving attention to detail. The Balinese seem never to tire of producing these colorful and highly symbolic, ephemeral creations for every ritual, from the simplest daily household offering to the gods, demons, and ancestors to massive ceremonies such as Panca Wali Krama held at Pura Besakih to purify and bring blessing upon the entire world.

Banten Saiban.

Banten saiban is a daily offering that is offered everyday after cooking or before eating. It is very simple consisting of a pinch of rice with other food like vegetable or fish or meat, on a small piece of banana leaf / other leaf. Due to its every day usage so it is grouped into “Nitya Yadnya”. Actually what is offered; rice and its companion food like vegetables and meat that are cooked; that means pinch of rice is just the sample, therefore Banten Saiban is also called Yadnya Sesa, that means offering is priority.

GEBOGAN ( a bigger offerings )

Gebogan are towering offerings contructed around the base of the banana trunk. Prepared by the women of the house hold, they are presented to the deities at the temples birthdays. Typically, the first layer is composed of fruits followed by layers of rice cakes in many shapes and colors.

PENJOR.

a penjor is an offering in the form of tall, decorated bamboo pole whose gracefully curving upper end is said to resemble both the tail of the barong, symbol of the goodness and the peak of the sacred mountain, Mount Agung. Penjor are placed in front of each Balinese compound for the Galungan holiday and also used in conjunction with important temple ceremony and life-cycle rituals.

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BALINESE RICE FIELD

Rice Terraces

Rice is a very important aspect of Balinese life, dominating not only the country side with its luminous green terraced fields but also the religion and culture of Bali. It is the major crop and also the main diet of the Balinese people. In the history of pre-mechanized agriculture few societies have ever achieved the high level of productivity characterized by wet rice farming in Bali. It appears that four factors are central to their success as rice farmers.

Rice cultivation has shaped the social landscape the intricate organization necessary for growing rice is a large factor in the strength of Bali’s community life. Rice cultivation has also changed the environmental landscape-terraced rice fields trip down hillsides like steps for a giant in shades of gold brown and Green.

The Subak as an organization of the farmers Wet rice agriculture, especially as practiced in Bali, is far too complex and requires too much regulation, particularly in coordinating use of irrigation systems, for one farmer to practice alone or even in conjunction with a few others. Consequently, a higly specialized farm of agricultural association has evolved over the centuries in Bali to coordinate the maximal usage of the environment for the growing of the wet rice. These irrigation cooperative, known as Subak are responsible for the allocation of water resources and maintenance of irrigation networks, for coordinating planting and for insuring that all religious rituals to insure good harvests are performed.

Subak organizations are usually comprised of all individuals owning land irrigated by a singles dam and major canal. The water from a single subak dam may be divided into dozens and even hundreds of channels to irrigate to terraced sawah. In determining the many issues involved in wet rice cultivation ( when to plant, who is responsible for cleaning and guarding canals, regulating water flow etc ) group votes are taken. Each subak member has one vote regardless of the size of his holding. Generally, all subak leaders are elected by group decision. Thus, for the entire peasant farmer’s expertise in using his environment for wet rice, without the subak coordinate activities it is unlikely that the sawah system could ever reached its current level of pervasiveness’ efficiency and productivity. Subak in Bali does not belong to the banjar and hass its own leader. The people who become the subak members are not always the same people who become the banjar members. The subak members are the owners or the people who work on the rice field that getting the water irrigation from the dams regulated by a subak organization. Not all of the subak members live in the same banjar. On the other hand there could be a Banjar member who has many rice fields in different areas and get the water irrigation from the dams organized by several subaks. Therefore this Banjar member will join himself in all of the subak where his rice fields are located.

PLANTING OF THE SEEDS

Bundless of the rice shoots over then brought from adjacent nurseries where the seed has been sprouted. Without the aid of strings or measuring devices each seedling is precisely placed next to its neibors, neither too close nor too distant.

HISTORY OF THE TRADITIONAL RICE FIELD

Wet rice agriculture ( sawah ) in the nexus of Balinese low-land economy.

This is hardly a new development. Wet rice (Huma ) is mentioned in the earliest known old Balinese inscription (prasasti ) dated 882 AD. It seem quite likely that the origin of sawah cultivation on Bali dates back to the beginning of the first millennium or earlier. The development of the wet rice agriculture was fostered by the abundance of water and fertile soil, and this fertility of the land has long been evoked as an explanation for Bali prodigious fields. Still, even the most fertile fields would have been exhausted after hundreds of years of used had it not been for the Balinese farmer’s ability to prepare and replenish the nutrients of the soil.

Description of wet rice farming preparation of the soil

Traditional fertilizer relies primarily on as decaying organic matters, and cow manure. Peasant families have traditionally own one or more cows for fertilizer production. The preparation of the soil is crucial in traditional methods of wet rice agriculture. After each harvest in usable matter in the field are hoed. They are then flooded; cow manure is spread over the fields, after which they are ploughed several times. The soil is then worked into a fine, smooth mud, being leveled by dragging a heavy wooden bar pulled by a cow or buffalo across the fields.

The Growth Period

The fields are carefully weeded in the first few weeks and throughout the growth of the crop the rice’s water supply is carefully regulated according to the plant’s needs. The plants are also periodically inspected for insects and other pests which, if found are quickly dealt with. During the first month or so of growth the fields.

As the rice begins to develop heads of grain the farmers construct elaborate systems toward of the birds. Scarecrows, bamboo poles, wind-driven noise makers, flags and streamers are used to this end. As the crop ripens the farmers guards their fields around the clock to protect them birds during the day and field mice at night.

HARVESTING

The crop is harvested with the help of friends, relatives or the harvesting association known as sekaa manyi. During the rice harvest a line of harvesters will work their way across the field cutting insures a minimal amount of loss during harvest. Once all the rice is cut it is gathered into bundles, which are then carried to the farmers’ rice bran where it can be kept in bundles for years without spoilage. the bundles can be removed, threshed and hulled as needed for family consumption, or sold in the market when cash or other goods are required.

The process of the rice growing starts with the bare, dry and harvested fields. The remaining rice stalks are burnt off and the field is then liberally soaked and repeatedly ploughed. Nowadays this may be done with a mechanical, petrol-powered cultivator but often they will still use two bullocks or cattle pulling a wooden plough. Once the field is reduced to the required muddy consistency, a small corner of the field is walled off and the seedling rice is planted there. The rice is grown to a reasonable size and lifted and replanted, shoot by shoot, in larger fields have to be kept in a working order and the fields have to be weeded

BALI ISLAND

With a reputation as being one of the most beautiful and diverse spots in Asia, Bali attracts almost 1,000,000 visitors a year, from all around the world. Geographically, Bali lies between the island of java and Lombok and is one of more than 18,000 islands that make up the Indonesian Archipelago. Bali is small, stretching approximately 140 km from east to west and 80 km from north to south. Slightly off center and running east to west is string of volcanic mountains. The tallest and the holiest is Gunung Agung, which erupted in 1963, and killed 2,000 people with the height 3,142 meters above the sea level.

Lying just 8*south of the equator, Bali boasts a tropical climate with just two seasons, wet and dry, a year and an average annual temperature of around 28*C. the rich volcanic soil and healthy monsoon season make this island extremely fertile and a range of crops are grown here. The wide and gently sloping south regions play host to Bali’s famed rice terraces among some of the most spectacular in the world. In the hilly, northern coastal regions, the main produce is coffee, vegetables spices and rice.

The Balinese people have strong spiritual roots and despite the large influx of tourist over the years, their culture is still very much alive. The main religion is Agama Hindu Dharma, which arrived in Bali with spread of Hinduism through Sumatra and Java during the 11th century. Although originally from India, The Balinese Religion is a unique blend of Hindu, Buddhist, Javanese and ancient indigenous beliefs, With the arrival of Islam in neighboring Java during the 13th century, A large number of courtier artists, musicians, and craftsmen fled to Bali, creating an artistic renaissance.

Naturally creative, the Balinese have traditionally used their talent for religious purpose and most of the beautiful work to be seen here, has been inspired by stories from the Ramayana and other Hindu Epics. The incredibly colorful cremation pyres and the everyday offerings to the gods, placed inside every shop and business are made with an eye for detail and beauty. The majority of Bali’s 3,216,221 people live, for most part, in tight village communities with large extended families. The largest towns are the capital Denpasar, population approximately 450,000 and Singaraja in the north.

TOURISM ASPECT OF BALI

Ever since two members of van de Hautman’s crew jumped ship in 1597, Bali’s utterly unique, higly developed culture has been endlessly fascinating to westerners, the paradigm of tropical beauty and exotic adventure.

The Dutch steamship line KPM Bengan calling at the northern Bali port of Buleleng in the late 19th century, though its cargoes consisted mostly of pigs, copra and coffee rather than tourist following Quickly upon the Puputan of 1906, Bali’s first tourist was Dutch parliamentarian H Van Kol, who reached Bali at his own expense and toured the island with a senior Dutch Official. Upon his return to Holland, he wrote of his travel on Bali in a book called Out of Our Colonies. By 1914 KPM was producing brochures rhapsodizing about Bali as an enchanted Garden of Eden. Next a classic book of photos of wild dances, corrupt kings, and bare bodies, published in Germany in 1921 by Gregor Krause. As Early as the 1920s, the island drew a steady stream of affluent, intrepid, genteel world vaganbons; these visitors perplexed the Dutch, who looked upon their tour of duty on quiet Bali as a bore some necessity.

In the 1930s the documentaries isle of the demons and Goona-Goona depicted Bali as a paradise on earth. The celebrated anthropologist Margareth Mead arrived to extol the island, getting things very wrongin her studies of Balinese children. The aristocratic Balinese and painter Walter Spies wrote and photographed the proud bronzed Balinese trance dancers and noble dusky peasantry; it later came to light that Spies was attracted to the island for its young boys.