Everything about Bali totally explained
Bali is an
Indonesian
island located at, the western most of the
Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between
Java to the west and
Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33
provinces with the provincial capital at
Denpasar towards the south of the island.
With a population recorded as 3,151,000 in 2005, the island is home to the vast majority of Indonesia's small
Hindu minority. 93.18% of Bali's population adheres to
Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam. It 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.
History
Bali was inhabited by
Austronesian peoples by about 2,000, who migrated originally from
Taiwan through
Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, and particularly
Hindu culture, in a process beginning around the 1st century AD. The name
Balidwipa has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the
Blanjong charter issued by
Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 913 AD and mentioning
Walidwipa. It was during this time that the complex irrigation system
subak was developed to grow rice. Some religious and cultural traditions still in existence today can be traced back to this period. The Hindu
Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern
Java founded a Balinese
colony in 1343. When the empire declined, there was an exodus of intellectuals, artists, priests and musicians from Java to Bali in the 15th century.
The first
European contact with Bali is thought to have been made by
Dutch explorer
Cornelis de Houtman who arrived in 1597, though a
Portuguese ship had foundered off the
Bukit Peninsula as early as 1585. Dutch colonial control was expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century (see
Dutch East Indies). Their political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast by playing various distrustful Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control. The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who marched to certain death against superior Dutch force in a suicidal
puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords lead the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno
out of the presidency, and his
"New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The Bali as a tourist paradise which was instigated during the pre World War II colonial time was revised in a modern form, and the resulting large growth in tourism has led to Balinese standards of living rise dramatically and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. Where Shanti derived from Sanskrit "Çantih" meaning peace.
Demographics
The population of Bali is 3,151,000 (
as of 2005).
Religion
Unlike most of
Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 93.18% of Bali's population adheres to
Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing
local beliefs and
Hindu influences from mainland
Southeast Asia and
South Asia. Minority religions include
Islam (4.79%),
Christianity (1.38%), and
Buddhism (0.64%). These figures don't include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Bali consists of about three million people, nearly all of whom practice the Balinese Hindu religion, a heterogeneous amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, with the spirits of ancestors and with indigenous deities associated with agriculture and with places considered sacred. Religion as it's practiced in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It is supposed to pervade every aspect of traditional life.
Bali Hinduism, which has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism, adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenes, which inhabited the island around the first millennium BCE. 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 closely preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam in Indonesia. 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 behavior.
Slattum, J. (2003). Balinese Masks: Spirits of an Ancient Drama. Indonesia, Asia Pacific, Japan, North America, Latin America and Europe: Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Language
Balinese and
Indonesian are the most widely spoken
languages in Bali, and like most Indonesians, the vast majority of Balinese people are
bilingual or
trilingual. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the
Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing.
English is a common third language (and the primary foreign language) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the large
tourism industry. Staff working in Bali's tourist centres are often, by necessity,
multilingual to some degree, speaking as many as 8 or 9 different languages to an often surprising level of competence.
Culture
Bali is renowned its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as
gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese dances portray stories from Hindu epics such as the
Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include
pendet,
legong,
baris,
topeng,
barong, and
kecak (the monkey dance).
The Hindu New Year,
Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the preceding day large, colorful sculptures of
ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese
pawukon calendrical system.
National education programs, mass media and tourism continue to change Balinese culture. Immigration from other parts of Indonesia, especially Java, is changing the ethnic composition of Bali's population.
The Balinese eat with their right hand, as the left is impure, a common belief throughout Indonesia. The Balinese don't hand or receive things with their left hand and wouldn't wave at anyone with their left hand.
Gallery
Image:DewiSri.jpg | Statue of rice goddess Dewi Sri — Ubud, Bali.
Image:Jan30244.JPG | Young Balinese dancers perform the ‘’Legong Keraton’’, created in the 18th century and based on a 13th century legend of the King of Lasem.
Image:Bali 0701a.jpg|The Balinese are renowned for their sculpting.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bali'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://bali.totallyexplained.com">Bali Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
