History of Bali

About Bali

History of Bali

The word Bali firstly appeared in the  Inscription of Blanjong found in Sanur village. The epigraph  shows the number of 913 centuries which was written by King Kesari Warmadewa. On that epigraph, Bali island is called Bali Dwipa. This word is derived from Sanskrit language that consists of words Bali and Dwipa. The word Bali has a lot of meanings such as return, offering, certainness, real and the other words that have similar meaning. Whereas Dwipa means island.

The name Bali might be given by Indian traders who had spread around South Eastern Asia including Bali in the first century. They encountered with the villagers who occupied this island with religious ceremonial activities using many kinds of offerings (banten) in conducting the ceremony.

Maybe based on that condition, this island was called Bali Dwipa. This became the trader’s habit when they found a new region that had not had the name yet. They would give a name in accordance with the situation of the environment

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Geographical  Location and population

Bali province is one of the provinces in Indonesia which is located between Java and Lombok Island. Its physical limit is in the northern part is Bali sea, in the eastern part is the Lombok straits, in the southern part; the Indonesian ocean, and in the western part; the Bali straits.

Bali Island consists of Bali island, Nusa Penida Island, and Serangan Island. Administratively, Bali province consists of eight regencies and one city which is divided into 53 districts, 674 villages, and 3954 hamlets. Bali island has a very strategic location because it  relates land transportation of Lombok and Java. Bali is also located between Asia continent and Australia continent. Geographically, in the middle of Bali Island, there are a lot of mountains laid front east to the west. Among those mountains, there are several mountains as the top such as: Agung mountain (3142 m), Batur mountain (1717 m), Abang mountain (2152m) and Batukaru mountain (2276 m). Mount Agung and Mount Batur are volcanic mountains. In the northern and southern parts of those mountains laid the land. Those mountains are quite far from the cebter city of Denpasar. Prananta   Bali rent car as one of car rental providers will be grateful to assist the visitor who love to visit those places. 

There are four lakes in Bali; Batur lake (1.675,5 Ha), Beratan lake (375,6 Ha), Buyan lake (336 Ha), and Tamblingan lake (110 Ha). The rivers that spurt from the lakes and forest mostly flow to the southern part of Bali such as; Unda river, Petanu river, Ayung river and etc. Bali region is belong to tropical area affected by the seasons that change every six months. Bali has two seasons, dry season (April- October) and rainy season (October- April). The temperature is varied between 24,0 degrees Celsius and 30,8 degrees  Celsius. The humidity is 79% in average.

The population of Bali in 2001 as many as 3,156,392 people. In the previous census recorded the population in Bali as follow: Census in 1930 is 1,101,029 people, the census in 1961 is 1,782,529 people, the census in 1971 is 2,120,091 people, is 2,469,930 tahun1980 census and in 1990 is  2777. 356 people. In 2011, the population in Bali is approximately 4.000.000.  Beside living in Bali,  they are also scattered in various other provinces in Indonesia, where most of them are transmigrant.
The Balinese or Bali tribe is one of the tribes residing in the Indonesian archipelago. Bali tribes is one of ethnic group who are bound by the consciousness or the unity of cultures both  Balinese culture and Indonesian culture. Sense of awareness for the unity of Balinese culture is reinforced by the presence of ethnic unity and Hindhu unity. Balinese language has a literary tradition both  written and oral, and supported by its own script system.

 
By : pranantabalicarrental.com

canang sari

Canang sari

When we go by taxi, public transportation, charter car, we might see a basket of colorful flower which is mostly placed in the dashboard of the car by Balinese drivers. It is called Canang Sari. If the passenger of the car ask the driver “What is that?” “Is it just a decoration?” And the driver being asked by the passengers that are mostly dominated by foreigners, will answer “No sir, it is Canang Sari that is offered to Hyang Widhi (God) in order to get His bestows and get safety during the trip.”

That is the common answer and certainly that is the reality. But if we investigate, analyze that driver has implemented the concept of Cosmogony Philosophy teaching (Tri Angga / Tri Mandala) which the descriptions are as follows:

1.    Parhyangan, which is located in front of the seats or on the dashboard (Utama Mandala) a place to offer Canang Sari every the driver drives the car to get the passenger.

2.      Palemahan is the body of taxi itself includes the seat of the driver and the passengers in front and in the back (Madya Mandala).

3.    Pawongan is the driver and the passenger either who sits in front or in the back. On the other hand, for the baggage of taxi is Nista Mandala.

That is how the taxi drivers in Bali implement the concept of cosmogony philosophy in the daily activity although they cannot explain the meaning of Canang Sari comprehensively. The phrase Canang Sari is derived from the words canang (a small square of coconut-leaf basket decorated with a combination of colorful flowers) and Sari (essence). Canang Sari is completed by placing on top of canang an amount of money (kepeng). Which is expected to make up the essence of the offering.

On the other side, Canang Sari can be found in temple, on small shrine in houses and on the ground or as a part of large offering. Balinese always offer Canang Sari as the simplest daily household offering to say thankfulness to the God for what we got in our life. Canang Sari is usually offered in temple, cross road. Sacred statue, houses or other places that Balinese people recognize it sacred so as to make the world’s balance.

By: pranantabalicarrental.com

Geringsing Tenganan

Kamben Geringsing are of great importance for Balinese, irrespective of whether they are used for black or white magic. It is hardly surprising, then, even the ruler of early kingdom in East Java sought to avail themselves of the service of Tengananese textile specialist whose mysterious cloths were employed to maintain and augment their power. Close study of iconography of the geringsing wayang reveals striking comparisons with East Javanese temple relief of the 13^th and 14^th centuries. Especially the relief of Candi Jagahu (near Singosari), Candi Penataran (near Blitar), and Candi Tigawangi (near Pare) show amazing similarities with the representations of priests and heroes on geringsing wayang kebo and wayang putri. Other fabrics shows pattern which are reminiscent of western Indian patola textiles, which also enjoyed great popularity in Hindu- Javanese court circles at this time.

It is particularly interesting to find the word geringsing mentioned in important literary works relating to the period when the aforementioned reliefs performed a didactic function. In Canto 18 of Nagarakrtagama, an ode composed in 1365 by the Buddhist sage Prapanca in honor of the king of Majapahit, the poet describe with his customary thoroughness of the composition of the royal caravan. It comprised six groups, distinguished by various emblems. The curtain of the carriage bearing the king, Hayam Wuruk, consisted of geringsing, lhobeng –lewih, laka, etc., with ornaments.

The well-known Pararaton chronicle and a poem called Rangga Lawe ( two East Javanese text telling of the first king of Majapahit, Wijaya) both relate that the king gave his warriors geringsing clothing prior to battle. In the Pararaton, five soldiers were given trousers of geringsing materials; in the Rangga Lawe all the warriors provided with sashes called cawet geringsing. The magical potency of double ikat of Tenganan clearly seems to have worked beyond the borders of Bali at a very early date, which is hardly surprising in view of the close cultural ties that existed between Bali and East Java in the early 10^th century, and of the colonization of Bali by Majapahit after 1343. Geringsing lubeng with its powerful star pattern on a bright red background was particularly esteemed as the emblem and wardrobe of  kings.  Still today, this pattern is held to possess the highest prestige in Tenganan. Its aesthetic attraction and power has recently gained a reputation all over Bali. Endek cloth with geringsing patterns have become a real fashion hit.

The identity and origin of  figures represented in geringsing wayang kebo and wayang puteri, which so clearly reflect East Javanese style, pose questions of great interest for the cultural historian. One possible answer is that these fabrics, which are seldom worn in Tenganan, were originally designed and produced as commissioned works to meet the religious needs of East Javanese and Javano-Balinese courts. The form and content of wayang kulit.(shadow play) are not known in the native village culture of Tenganan. On the other hand, the most popular of all Javano-Balinese kings, Dalem Batu Renggong, is reported to have clothed himself in geringsing wayang for his coronation.

Outside Tenganan, fabrics of wayang type are still preferred today for use in the rites of passage celebrated by noble families, for example as cloth in which to wrap the pillow during a tooth filling, or as a shroud to cover the body of the deceased before cremation. In many regions in Bali and among Balinese in Lombok, geringsing wayang are suspended as a ceiling beneath the highest roof of towers used for transportation of a corpse. Fragments of magical geringsing cloth are also hung on sacred weapons or spread as an underlay for offerings, in the same way as wangsul/gedogan. In many old Balinese villages of east Bali, as well as in the famous temple of Samuantiga near Bedulu, the sedans chairs of the gods are swathed in geringsing wayang. When men perform the old baris war dances at temple festivals or death rituals (Badung, Tabanan, Buleleng), their wardrobe is often completed with the aggressive and at the same time defensive double ikat cloth from Tenganan.

Various  myths,  legends, and historical  document suggest that the creators of kamben geringsing have not occupied their present site from ” time immemorial.”  On the contrary, the story generally goes that the ancestors of the Tengananese—the Wong Peneges or  inhabitants of the original Balinese village created by the god Indra—came here from the distant past from the kingdom of Bedahulu in east Bali in search of royal horse that had escaped. Royal edicts from 11^th century show that, at this time, the settlement of “Tranganan” was still located on the coast of Candi Dasa , and that the inhabitants had close links with Javanese ambassador and religious reformer Empu Kuturan, who lived only a few kilometers away in Silayukti (near modern-day Padangbai). In an important lontar (palm leaf) historical text preserved in the Jero Gede of Sidemen, the Babad Bali Pulina, there is also an account of close relations between the Bali Aga of “Tranganan” and Kuturan. At the same time, the reader of this chronicle finds the intriguing statement that a sect dedicated to Indra landed on the coast at Candi Dasa following a ship wreck.

In point of fact, relics even carried now in a procession from the bale agung of Tenganan to the Sembangan temple in the northen part of the village, are said to be fragments of the raft that brought the ancestors of  Tenganan across the sea and broke up and sank shortly before landing. A sea-mindedness, which clearly distinguishes the Tengananese with the mountain-mindedness of the other Balinese, is suggested by other two cultural elements. The original altar (sanggah kamulan) of all house compounds in Tenganan is oriented in the direction of the sea not towards the volcanoes and the sunrise (kaja-kangin), as in other Balinese villages. Secondly, the people of Tenganan do not practice cremation. Once the sun is past its zenith, the body is carried to the cemetery, where it is undressed and placed naked in the grave, the head face down, pointing in the direction of the sea.

Genetic and medical research begun in 1978 by a team of Indonesian and Swiss scientists in Tenganan Pegeringsingan has even suggested the possibility that the people of Tenganan originally came to Bali from  India, either direct by sea or via Java. Tests have revealed that 18 inhabitants of the village have in their blood a special enzyme LHD Calcutta I, which is characteristic of Indian and otherwise exceptionally rare outside India. The supposition that Indra’s sect may be Vedict emigrants from India is bolstered by ethnographic findings. The most important ritual month of Tenganan coincides with the winter solstice. The complex swinging ritual that takes place  at this time is strongly reminiscent of ancient Vedict swinging rites, which also take place at the time of solstice (mahavrata) and are devoted to the god Indra, linking together heaven and earth. Moreover, our own surveys of textile technology in connection with double ikat do not, a priori, rule out an Indian origin, especially from Andhra and Orissa.

Refference : The Theater Of  The Universe

By :pranantabalicarrental.com