Eksotisme god island (Bali)
Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has
a fauna which is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence,
and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An
exception is the Yellow-crested Cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian
family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically
endangered Bali Starling, which is endemic. Others Include Barn Swallow,
Black-naped Oriole, Black Racket-tailed Treepie, Crested Serpent-eagle, Crested
Treeswift, Dollarbird, Java Sparrow, Lesser Adjutant, Long-tailed Shrike, Milky
Stork, Pacific Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Sacred Kingfisher, Sea Eagle,
Woodswallow, Savanna Nightjar, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Yellow-vented Bulbul,
White Heron, Great Egret.
Culture
Bali is renowned for 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 performing arts often portray stories from Hindu
epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese
dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak
(the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative
performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of
temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
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 day before New Year, large and colourful
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.
Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a
tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One
of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that
of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate
in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art
forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing
flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current
situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots
of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often
two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and
sometimes compete with each other in order to be heard. Likewise, the audience
members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the
performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness
typical of ramé.
Stone carvings in Ubud.
Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and
South, which refer to ones orientation between the island’s largest mountain
Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation,
kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are
believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such
as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most
sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the
sea.
Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard
which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve
as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any
combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the
inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are
offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali
ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly,
performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside
the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system
of classification was standardized in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials
and artists in order to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most
sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.
Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's
ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied.
Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions
imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including
"kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence
of the democratization and decentralization of Indonesia since 1998.
