Klub Kokos
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News
- Ceremonies
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August 2002 Newsletter
School Library
Ceremonies
School News
Staff/Guest News
Featured Recipe
(Sayur Tumis
- Stir-fried Vegetables)
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Despite having lived in Bali for well over a decade, it still never ceases
to amaze me just how much time and energy the Balinese put into the practice
of the Hindu-Dharma religion. In a world which has had its confidence
in security shattered with events since last September, Bali remains a
haven of peace and harmony. A balance between God, humankind and nature
is all-important for the community in the way it approaches everyday life.
The cycle of ceremonies continue to bind the family and community together.
Below are a few of the ceremonies that we have been a part of over the
first half of this year:
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Odalan at Gusti Aji's family temple
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- As another six months have gone by, once again we see our neighbour
Gusti Aji celebrating the Odalan
(anniversary) of his family temple in their home directly across the
road from KLUB KOKOS.
This is a special time for family to gather together to pray, as well
as catching up with all of the latest family news. With the new temple
that Gusti Aji built last year, any small ceremony that is now held
there looks most colourful as the Balinese make full use of satiny cloths
and umbrellas to decorate their centre of prayer within the house compound.
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Nyepi celebrations in the streets of Ubud
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- The eve of Nyepi (Balinese
New Year) was celebrated in fine style again this year in Ubud. Local
youth held a late afternoon parade of all of the awesome ogoh-ogoh
that they had created in the preceding month. If you are thinking of
spending time in Bali around March/April, check out the Balinese
Calendar later in the year to see what date Nyepi falls next
year.
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Wong-wongan made as a special offering
for the foundations of a new building
Symbolic turtle design is drawn on a brick
The brick & stone are wrapped in ceremonial cloth, to be buried with the
offerings in the NE corner of the building
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- Whenever a new building begins construction in Bali, a special foundation
or Nasarin ceremony is held. A pemangku (village priest)
is generally used to perform this smaller ceremony. A temporary altar,
which has been erected to give daily
 offerings
for the success of the building progress and the safety of the workers,
is blessed. We have been involved in Nasarin ceremonies for a
few new buildings recently, including a new bale dangin in Gusti
Aji's compound as well as the foundations to Krishna's long-awaited
art studio.
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A proud mum with daughter Kristi on the
occasion of her tooth filing ceremony
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By far the biggest of the ceremonies that we have been intimately
involved in recently is that of the Odalan of Krishna's family
temple in his ancestral home in Ubud at Puri Saren Kangin. Over the
past few months major rebuilding work was done on the temple. Because
of this the Odalan was on a much bigger scale than normal this time.
All of the new buildings were blessed and 'brought to life', and the
effigies and family heirlooms that had been temporarily removed from
their place of honour in the temple were returned. Because of the
scale of the ceremony, the family decided to include a Mepandes
(Tooth Filing) ceremony as a part of the Odalan. Our younger
daughter Kristi now having reached puberty was one of the five youth
that were a part of this grand ceremony. This is the last of the life-cycle
ceremonies before their wedding. More detailed information about the
celebration of a Balinese wedding
and tooth filing ceremony is available in our guidebook, when
it was held on a smaller scale by a family in our village. I have
also included as a separate page a collection of photos and text about
the Royal Odalan and Tooth
Filing Ceremony this month at the Puri (palace) in Ubud for those
of you who would like to see more of the colour of this special occasion
for our family.
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