For Easier Reading: 03/03/09

It began early in the morning. Saner, a small village near beach black volcanic sand, was quiet. A cock was crowing. Nyepi, The Balinese New Year by Saka Calendar, was beginning.

Bali, a small spot on the map of Indonesia, is a green and fertile tropical island with plenty of natural beauty ready to be used for the tourist business.

The Island has experienced a series of invasions. In 1500 B.c. people from South India arrived and brought with them. An efficient agricultural system and a way of organizing villages. More than 2530 years later, around 1020 A.D. The eastern Javanese began to influence the Balinese and among other things they introduced the mixture of Hinduism and animism which can still be felt in modern Bali.
The Dutch arrived in 1597 and were at first friendly with Balinese, but this friendship became war which lasted until 1949, when the island became part of independent Indonesia.

The influence from these different cultures was changed by the Balinese to suit their way of live. In 1971 the Indonesian Government expressed the intention of not letting development for tourist spoil the natural beauty of Bali, with so many foreign tourists arriving in Bali; will it be possible for the island to stay the same?

The cock was still crowing, in the distance the sound of a drum and gong could be heard, now two white prayer flags, six meters long could be seen.

The music stopped. There was the sound of singing and that hundreds of bare feet moving along the road. Small boys, in bright white shirts and purple and gold headbands, were leading the procession. Behind them were girls with serious faces carrying of ferings. Then came the adults, including many toothless old women, with hollow check and wrinkled skin. The musicians played again and the procession moved more quickly towards the beach.

There was a shrine made of bamboo poles on the beach. It had been built the night before. The offering of fruit and flowers and white rice were placed on a platform. Beside the platform were the prayer flags.

An old woman approached the shrine slowly, and placed small vases of burning jossticks among the offerings then she moved backwards and, like most other attendants, sat cross-legged on the sand.
Now the pedanda (high priest) began to chant prayers every now and the ringing a small hand bell. He sprinkled holy water over the offerings and when he had finished. People began to stand up and undress, and then walk into the sea. The morning of New Year’s Eve in Bali is the time for ritual washing and purification of the body and soul in the sea.

Small groups of people began drying and dressing themselves. The musicians started playing again and the procession returned through the village. Nearby was the tall Bali Beach Hotel. Most of the Hotel’s guests were still sleeping. However, there was still plenty of opportunity to use a camera. Procession kept on arriving during the day. People from the procession were willing to be photographed by the tourist.

Tourist can also attend temple ceremonies. The biggest temple in Bali is Puri Besakih. Mother Temple of Bali. In Fact, most of Bali is Hindu, but the biggest temple is Buddhist. Religion in this island is rather different from “orthodox” Hinduism or Buddhism. To enter the temple the tourist has to wear a sash and pay a small amount of money to borrow it.

A bare –footed middle–aged woman brought offerings into the temple. She placed the offerings of roasted duck and rice cakes near five small shrines, then when the pedanda came and chanted prayers and sprinkled holy water over the woman’s offering. He went around the shrines. After that the music was heard for a short time, the woman brought the offerings because her husband was very sick and she wanted him to get well.

A guide explained to the tourist that the temple stood at the foot of the Gunung Agung Volcano. Although it is a Buddhist temple, many of the shrines and figures in it are Hindu.

As well as attending temple ceremonies, tourists can also watch cock-flights. Formerly a cock-fight used to have a religious meaning. It was usually held before a religious festival. The blood that spilled during the fight was supposed to be an offering to evil spirits so that they wouldn’t harm people and the festival would be successful. Nowadays cock-fighting does have this religious meaning any more but is merely a sport and there is usually a lot of betting.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve men in the villages could be seen carrying fighting cock in baskets. At the place of the fight, the cocks were turned to look at each other while still being held by their owners. If the cocks seemed angry enough, then the owners would agree to a fight.

One pair of owner was ready, so steel blades were tied to the cock’s spurs. Bets were made while the judges made sure that knives had been properly attached. The men making bets were busiest when the cocks were placed looking at each other, still held by their masters.

The noise stopped for a moment when the cocks began to fight. They collided half a meter above the ground. The noise of their flapping wings could be heard. The crowd shouted as the two birds struggled. The coloured cock was cut on the thigh, and blood flowed from the wound. Then the white cock attacked again. Its blade cut into the neck and throat of the coloured opponent. The loser lay on the ground in pain. The judges instructed the owners to put their birds into their baskets. If the defeated cock was severely wounded and dying, the owner would kill it instantly.

Some tourists asked a guide about the cock-fight. He said that the flights were just for the enjoyment of the owners and tourists, but they did not have any special meaning nowadays.

There are still a lot of ceremonies in Bali, but in his opinion a lot of people in Bali who take ceremonies don’t really understand the religious meaning of them.

The guide said that once wood-carvings and paintings were made for temples and public buildings. The artists did it because they were clever at it and regarded it as a religious, sacred duty. They were never paid, however, in 1930 the first foreign tourists came to the island and everything changed.

The guide added that formerly dancing was full religious meaning, but nowadays it is mostly for the tourist business. In olden days Balinese dancing was part of religious ritual and the dancers were never paid because it was not a profession but merely a religious, ceremonial duty.

Well, what about the future of that “Paradise Island”? Should Bali be kept unchanged like a big museum or an “ethnological reserve” so that a few rich tourists can come and look at it? In this modern day time is changing rapidly and no region in Indonesia can be altogether isolated from the current of world development. It is what is called” The Dilemma of Bali”.

One foreigner had this opinion: Nowadays there are in Bali television and newspapers which include news from the developed world. There are modern hotels and many other things that are usually found in Western homes. The people of Bali want many of these things --- they want a better standard of living. Should the people be given what they want? Even though it will change Bali?

The foreigner thought that the Balinese should be given better education, better heath, more food, cars and anything else they want. The money gained from the tourists who come to Bali should be used for the benefit of the people.