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Liberation Through Fire: Cremations in Bali
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14393 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
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6 / 1988 |
4,119 Words |
| Author
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Carol Simowitz
Carol Simowitz is a free-lance photographer and writer. |
Bali has been called the Island of Temples. One of the smallest islands in the Indonesian archipelago, Bali has at least 20,000 temples for a population of three million people. Over 95 percent of the population practices the Balinese form of the Hindu religion.
Hinduism first appeared in Bali as early as the seventh century A.D., when Chinese traders and Indian literati visited the island. It flourished especially when, in the sixteenth century, Bali became a haven for Hindu refugees after Islam triumphed over Hinduism in nearby Java. The Balinese form of the religion is a mixture of Hinduism (particularly of the Saivite sect), Buddhism, Malay ancestor worship, animism, and magical beliefs and practices. Because of the mass migration of rulers, priests, intellectuals, artists, and dancers from Java to Bali, Hindu-Javanese culture has flourished there even to this day.
The Hindu refugees developed their own unique form of religion and customs. On the surface the Balinese religion appears to be based on the traditional teachings of Hinduism, but in reality it is more closely aligned to native Balinese animism. Primitive Balinese believed in a plethora of protective gods and evil spirits. To maintain a good relationship with these supernatural beings, temple offerings, sacrificial rites, and elaborate cremations were frequently performed to appease the deities and demons.
Balinese life revolves around religion. The people are constantly appeasing angry gods or thanking beneficent deities for good fortune. There are gods for every aspect of life: sun gods, rain gods, rice gods, market gods, harvest gods, gods of life, and gods of death. For fear of upsetting any one of these gods, the Balinese place offerings--a banana leaf filled with a few grains of rice, a flower, some salt, and chili pepper--outside their homes every day of the year.
The Balinese have a dualistic worldview. Divine spirits live in the mountains, and demons inhabit the seas. The Balinese look up toward the mountain peaks rather than out toward the sea for religious inspiration. The mountains, with their lakes and streams, are holy. That is where the fertility of the land begins. The volcanic mountains are home to their ancestral spirits. The sea, with its giant fish and poisonous snakes, is home to demons and monsters. For this reason, the Balinese do not consume large amounts of seafood; they fear the sea and its bounty. Only during low tide do young boys or old men catch tropical fish in the shallow tide pools. Few Balinese know how to
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