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A symbol is something that represents something else. Balinese culture is very rich in symbolism. It seems that everything is symbolic and that even the symbols are symbolic.

Writing can be just as sacred as the message it conveys. One story says that Saraswati, the goddess of poetry, brought humans into existence by the use of writing. Written symbols represent different aspects of God and are often joined together. Powerful symbolic writing on pieces of white cloth, Ulap-ulap, hang above doorways in Balinese homes.

Written symbols are written on the teeth of a person about to have his or her teeth filed. Written symbols are also placed on offerings and on the shroud of a deceased person

The anthropologist Lansing has made the point that letters are used to create poetry. Poetry is a vehicle for the imagination. This allows us to see beyond the surface appearance of things

Gilimanuk

Powerful symbolic writing on pieces of white cloth, Ulap-ulap, hang above doorways in Balinese homes. A Ulap symbol is used to purifying the building (restaurant). Balinese believe before they build a building they must ask the permission of every spirit in the surrounding area of the building to purify the process.

Gilimanuk

Gilimanuk

Sounds tend to represent different names for God. The most famous is OM, which represents Brahma or Sanghyang Widi Wasa or God. You will often hear priests intone this sound. The sound is made up of the letters which symbolize the Trinity, which is Brahma, the Creator, who is symbolized by the letter A, Wisnu, the Preserver of Life, who is symbolized by the letter U and Siwa the Destroyer, who is symbolized by the letter M. This spells AUM or OM. OM is the most important sound in Bali and starts every stanza of every mantra and prayer

Frangipani (Plumeria sp)

These trees are grown everywhere in Bali because the blossoms are very fragrant and popularly used in offerings and for hair decorations. Balinese call it Jepun

Frangipani

Frangipani

Frangipani

Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana, or Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK), is a 240 hectares private cultural park on the Bukit Peninsula at the southern end of the island of Bali, 15 minutes from Ngurah Rai International Airport. Bukit is a limestone plateau with Uluwatu to the west and Nusa Dua to the east.It is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu, and his mount, Garuda, the mythical bird who is his companion. Currently, the statue of Vishnu is 23 metres (75.5 ft) high, although the original plan was for a 146-metre (479 ft) gold-plated Vishnu riding Garuda on top of an 11-storey entertainment complex

Wisnu Kencana (GWK),

Wisnu Kencana (GWK),

Flowers carry

prayers and make

them effective

Rice is symbolic of life. After praying in the temple, the priest gives the worshippers some grains of wet rice to press against their foreheads, temples and throats and to eat

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing semiaquatic rice

Rice

Bungan Pucuk, that is the Balinese name for Hibiscus. There are many varieties and colors from solid red to solid white, and various mixtures. The roots, leaves, and flowers can be used as medicines. The flowers are a favorite for use in offerings

Mountains symbolize the dwelling places of the gods. They also climb towards the sky.Temples, in their three divisions, symbolize the underworld of evil spirits, man and God, each courtyard being reached by a flight of steps and higher than the previous one

The Balinese people have strong spiritual roots and despite the large influx of tourists in recent years, their culture is still very much alive. Dance is the main art from Balinese culture as well as the important part of nearly every ritual in Bali. Balinese dance can not be separated from religion. Even dances for the tourists are always preceded by a small offering of food and flowers.

Dance movements come out of each other in a continuum of gestures which has no break and no jumping - except for some demonic or animal characters. The expression is completed by mimicry of the face. Even the eyes are dancing.

Although masks have evolved over the years, most of them are the primitive masks used for tribal ceremonies

The vast majority of

the Balinese believe in Agama

Tirta, "holy-water

religion". It is a

Shivaite sect of

Hinduism. Traveling

Indian priests are

said to have introduced the people

to the sacred

literature of Hinduism

and Buddhism centuries

ago.

Indonesia’s tallest Buddha statue (25m), located at Vihara Empu Astapaka temple complex in Gilimanuk (June 6, 2013)

Bali is also known as the Island of the Gods, probably in literal sense as well, as gods are everywhere. Their presence can be felt in statues, temples and offerings.In Bali, contrary to other parts of Indonesia where the majority of the population is Muslim, about half of the people are Hindu. The Balinese honour there gods and spirits enthusiastically, and temples and statues can be found everywhere, even house-temples in the garden.

Dewa Ruci Statue is located at the Kuta roundabout (Simpang Siur).

Peace Statue in culture park made in honour of the victims to died in the 2002 Bali Bombings

Dewa Ruci is a character of Bima (one of the Five Pandavas) against the dragon who tried to coil around and drown the world. The statue was created by I Wayan Winten, a sculptor from Teges Peliatan, Ubud.

The lotus also has a close connection with Balinese culture. In Balinese scripture Danghyang Dwijendra stated Bali as Padma Bhuwana, or “lotus flower” of this planet. The lotus flower is the king of all flowers (Raja Kesuma) and referred to in various stories. Balinese temples contain many structures and one of the most important is the Padmasana or Lotus Throne (in Sanskrit the word for lotus is padma). The Padmasana is a tall sculptured stone tower upon which the empty stone seat, or lotus throne, is reserved for Sanghyang Widi Wasa (the Supreme God)

Orchids are a favourite decorative flower in Bali, and they are

cultivated everywhere. There are

many different colors,

shapes, and sizes, so it

is difficult to make

general statements that apply to

all. Some grow in the

ground terrestrial,

some (epiphytic) grow on

other trees and plants.

Pedandas, Brahman high priests, and pemangkus, ordinary temple priests, use elaborate hand movements called mudras, during ceremonies, which have symbolic meanings. Zoete and Spies said that a dancer's hand movements were faint relics of a sign language.Wayang puppets have similar hand gesturesElaborate hand movements accompany even everyday offerings

Vishnu hands (GWK)

Certain colours symbolise certain gods. Colours also symbolise characters in plays; for example, Rama always has a green mask, because he is an avatar of Wisnu, whose colour is green (or black). A white mask symbolises a refined person, red or black a coarse, rough person. This colour symbolism is carried into the faces of shadow puppets for the Wayang performances. The Balinese see the world in terms of opposites, good and bad, day and night, mountain and sea. This duality forms the whole: one cannot exist without the other. Poleng is the perfect representation of this view. The squares of equal size are perfect black and perfect white; they intersect and are not parallel.

Gamelan musicians perform during the Balinese Arts Festival

Gamelan musicians perform during the Balinese Arts Festival

Some ceremonies are themselves symbolic, such as a tooth-filing, which eliminates animal-like behaviour, such as lust, greed, anger, drunkenness, arrogance and jealousy.

The cremation ceremony uses fire as a symbol of purification and cleansing, so that the deceased's spirit can be released and join the spirit of God.

Various cloths are used in ceremonies, particularly during rites of passage. They form part of the offerings. These sacred textiles are given the generic name of bebali - like the dances, which can only be performed in the inner part of the temple. These cloths have their own patterns and names. Very often there is a striped pattern. The lines symbolize the human life cycle - birth, growth and death.

Batik

The traditional bebali were made by hand, using cagcag, a traditional weaving tool, and plants as natural dyes.Bebali textiles were produced for centuries by the Bali Mula (indigenous Balinese) in Pacung village in Tejakula, Buleleng, North Bali. The Bali Mula have their own traditions and language. In general, members of the three high castes have a monopoly over the production of the bebali cloths.

Many animals are symbolic.

The goose is the only animal in Bali that can live in the sea, on the land and in the air. As a result it represents the three levels of the universe. If one is killed, a purification ceremony is required. Ducks are an important aspect in the ecology of Bali’s wet-rice agriculture. Ducks are herded into fields well prior to harvest so that they will eat algae and insect pests, as well as fertilize the fields with their droppings. They later are kept away from ripening fields so that they do not eat the rice itselfDucks and chickens are frequently used in ceremonies. A girl may have to kiss a live chicken or duck at her first menstruation ceremony to symbolise her identification and oneness with nature

Water cleans symbolically. Holy water is sprinkled on everything. It purifies. Holy water is used so extensively that Bali-Hinduism is called the holy water religion. Water has always been significant in Hindu culture. The king's association with water and rainfall is a manifestation of both his power and his purity. The worst drought in living memory in Bali broke out the day that Sukarno flew in for a visit.

Believers of Balinese Hinduism see monkeys as an embodiment of both positive and negative forces. A monkey stealing a farmer’s harvest would be considered a negative force, for example. But monkey troops inhabiting sacred forests and Balinese Hindu temple sites are thought to protect these sites from evil spirits and thus are respected and cared for

Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi)

The Greater Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda)Rhino horned toucan

The Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", (Chrysolophus pictus)

Taman Ayun Temple, Mengwi Royal Kingdom Temple

3,5,7,9 and 11 are extremely important in determining activities. Each god has his (or her) own numbers.

In temple each power point is represented by a multiple roofed tower called a meru. The main one was for Mount Agung, the highest mountain in Bali. It has eleven tiers that represented the eight directions, up, down and centre the totality of outer and inner space. The meru for Mount Batukaru also has eleven tiers and a nine tiers meru represents Mount Batur. Other merus represented the dominant natural features in the Mengwi kingdom, or regions of landscape that held special power, such as the mountains, the lakes the slopes, the plains and the ocean

Every day, Balinese children carry the offerings to the spirits to their school

Babies wear a necklace containing the dried umbilical cord to ward off evil. The cord symbolizes their four invisible brothers and sisters, the Kanda Empat, who accompany them throughout life. For the Balinese people, the placenta is also considered a brother or sister to the newborn and is quickly removed and returned to the family compound. It is then cleaned by the father, blessed with holy water, wrapped in white cloth and then buried in the grounds under a rock. No one outside the family will know where it is buried to protect the placenta from evil which through black magic, (believed in by the Balinese), could then be inflicted on the living child.

Text: Internet

Pictures: Internet & Nicoleta LeuCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foi oreanuşwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Gamelan Bamboo & Flute - Sekar Sandat