Bali: The Exquisite Pura Taman Ayun
In contrast with the rest of Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim, 85% of Bali’s 4 million residents are Hindu. Islam was introduced by Arab traders who came here 400-500 years ago, but Bali never changed. We were there on a Hindu holiday, so I suspect the number of ‘offerings’ we saw was especially high that day. Later, street ceremonies caused a detour and a major, though typical, traffic jam.
We saw offerings in front of most houses, businesses and, of course, in and around temples. One placed up high — for example atop an elevated platform or a post — is an offering to a good spirit. On the ground, to a bad spirit. There are specific ingredients in an offering — the four elements: water, fire, air and earth are represented by water, incense, flowers (scent is carried on air) and coconut leaves. Children are taught how to construct the offerings, or they can be bought ready-made from street vendors.
Pura Taman Ayun Royal Temple was our second destination on Saturday, the day that had begun with Batik shopping and ended at the Tanah Lot promontory temple with hordes of tourists. Dating from the 17th century, Taman Ayun is one of Indonesia’s eight UNESCO sites, as is the Komodo National Park. The largest Buddhist temple in the world — Borobodor — is another; considered one of the 7 Wonders of the World, it was visited by around 300 Viking passengers the next day. Taman Ayun, in the town of Mengwi, was the private temple of the powerful Mengwi dynasty, which survived until the late 1800s. The entire complex was, in a word, exquisite. Despite the cock fighting.
We’d been provided with gaily colored raincoats since it looked like rain. It always looks like rain — this is the rainy season. This is a tableau of a cock fight. Yes, cock fights are held in this temple complex on holy days and temple anniversaries to provide a blood sacrifice to a bad spirit. Betting on the fights is not allowed in temples, and baskets for housing the birds and carrying them to fights were on sale everywhere. This building was outside the actual sacred temple area…
As you might imagine, the sign says Keep Off The Grass.
The orange gate at the top of this page is the entrance to the sacred area of the temple. We were not allowed in, probably because we were not in proper, traditional Balinese attire. We walked around the perimeter, looking over the chest-high wall that encircled it.
I couldn’t get enough of these fabulous ‘Meru’ tower shrines, made of stone and thatch. This is my favorite shot:
This giant bid us adieu as we left the temple neighborhood (if I can find out who he is, I’ll let you know)... and it started to rain (you can make out the gate and the tops of shrines) as we drove back to port past homes, lush vegetation and rice paddies.
Other Bali tidbits:
- Since 1990 the government has strongly suggested only 2 or 3 children per couple.
- Buildings may not be taller than 4 stories — the height of the tallest coconut tree.
- Today, 40% of all workers are in the tourism industry, 50% are farmers (especially rice) and the other 10% are laborers, retailers, etc.
- White is the color of purity. Yellow, of power. The black and white checkered cloths you’ve seen represent good and bad.
- Until the 1950s and ’60s, women wore sarongs but went topless.
- Marriage may occur by Request, where two people ask their families’ permission, though it’s far more complicated than that and involves a dowry… or by Elopement, which is cheaper. The third ‘option’ is Force: if the daughter is pregnant, the baby’s father comes to her family and must offer to marry the daughter. If he does not, the family may kill him. Don’t know how often this is carried out...
- Men may have multiple wives, but the first wife must approve the subsequent wives, and each wife must live in a separate house in a separate village. As you might expect, a wife can have only one husband. And, best of all:
- The Balinese calendar has only 251 days. As our guide said, ‘You do get older faster, but you get more presents!’ #
