Bali was inhabited by around 2000 BC by Austronesian peoples who migrated originally from Taiwan through Maritime Southeast Asia.
Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to
the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines,
and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa,
Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each
sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the complex irrigation system subak
was developed to grow rice. Some religious and cultural traditions
still in existence today can be traced back to this period. The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java
founded a Balinese colony in 1343. When the empire declined, there was
an exodus of intellectuals, artists, priests, and musicians from Java to
Bali in the 15th century.
The first European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1585 when a Portuguese ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung. In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali and, with the establishment of the Dutch East India Company
in 1602, the stage was set for colonial control two and a half
centuries later when Dutch control expanded across the Indonesian
archipelago throughout the second half of the nineteenth century (see Dutch East Indies).
Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on
the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various distrustful
Balinese realms against each other.
In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's
south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region
in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family
and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a
suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 1,000 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali (1908), a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.
Afterwards the Dutch governors were able to exercise administrative
control over the island, but local control over religion and culture
generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never
as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
In the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee
created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at
peace with themselves and nature", and western tourism first developed
on the island.
Imperial Japan
occupied Bali during World War II. Bali Island was not originally a
target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields
on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda
(Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several
Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P.
Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town
of Senoer. The island was quickly captured.
During the Japanese occupation a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai,
formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The lack of institutional changes
from the time of Dutch rule however, and the harshness of war
requisitions made Japanese rule little better than the Dutch one.
Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch promptly
returned to Indonesia, including Bali, immediately to reinstate their
pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese
rebels now using Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga
was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by
then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga
Rana, where they made a suicide attack
on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped
out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance. In 1946
the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of
the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta.
Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia"
when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December
1949.
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated
to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions
across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict
between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting these traditional values. Politically, this was represented by opposing supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto. The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge,
in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest
that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an
estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's
population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency, and his "New Order"
government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War
Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form, and the resulting large
growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards
of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely affected tourism, bringing much economic hardship to the island, although tourist numbers have now returned to levels before the bombings.
Geography
See also: List of bodies of water in Bali and List of mountains in Bali
The island of Bali lies 3.2 km (2 mi) east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait.
East to west, the island is approximately 153 km (95 mi) wide and spans
approximately 112 km (69 mi) north to south; its land area is
5,632 km².
Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano.
Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the
easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its
exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high
rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South
of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of
Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains
slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of
the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.
The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra
and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep
water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.
Ecology
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2012) |
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.
Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild Banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali Tiger.
The Banteng still occurs in its domestic form, while leopards are found
only in neighboring Java, and the Bali Tiger is extinct. The last
definite record of a Tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot,
though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s.
The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching
and habitat reduction drove the Tiger to extinction. This was the
smallest and rarest of all Tiger subspecies and was never caught on film
or displayed in zoos, while few skins or bones remain in museums around
the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan Rusa deer and the Wild Boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian Muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.
Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian Palm Civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats
are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them
remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped
by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur
in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The Crab-eating Macaque,
known locally as “kera”, is quite common around human settlements and
temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans,
particularly in any of the three “monkey forest” temples, such as the
popular one in the Ubud
area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second
monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands, such as Bali which
is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan Langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration.
In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain
its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture
of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals
include the Leopard Cat, Sunda Pangolin and Black Giant Squirrel.
Snakes include the King Cobra and Reticulated Python. The Water Monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length and 50 kg (110 lb) and can move quickly.
The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighboring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance Hawksbill Turtle, Giant Sunfish, Giant Manta Ray, Giant Moray Eel, Bumphead Parrotfish, Hammerhead Shark, Reef Shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.
A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May
2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef
fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36 percent (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29 percent or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25 percent) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.
Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries,
particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to
distinguish what plants are really native. Among the larger trees the most common are: Banyan trees, Jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, Kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.
Environment
Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach,
where up to 7 meters of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this
beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but
they have now moved to Masceti Beach.
From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of
Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33
provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Due to over-exploitation by the tourist industry which converse
massive land, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and
based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage
up to 2,500 liters of clean water per second by 2015.
To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water
catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300
liters capacity of water per second will be channeled to Denpasar,
Badung and Gianyar
Administrative divisions
| Name | Capital | Area in km2. |
Population 2000 Census |
Population 2005 estimate |
Population 2010 Census |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jembrana Regency | Negara | 841.80 | 231,806 | 247,102 | 261,618 |
| Tabanan Regency | Tabanan | 839.30 | 376,030 | 398,389 | 420,370 |
| Badung Regency | Mangupura | 418.52 | 345,863 | 388,548 | 543,681 |
| Gianyar Regency | Gianyar | 368.00 | 393,155 | 421,067 | 470,380 |
| Klungkung Regency | Semarapura | 315.00 | 155,262 | 163,291 | 170,559 |
| Bangli Regency | Bangli | 520.81 | 193,776 | 208,508 | 215,404 |
| Karangasem Regency | Amlapura | 839.54 | 360,486 | 376,711 | 396,892 |
| Buleleng Regency | Singaraja | 1,365.88 | 558,181 | 599,866 | 624,079 |
| Denpasar City | Denpasar | 123.98 | 532,440 | 574,610 | 788,445 |
| Totals | 5,780.06 | 3,146,999 | 3,378,092 | 3,891,428 |
Economy
Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based
in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest
single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of
Indonesia’s wealthiest regions. About 80% of Bali's economy depends on
tourism;
Note: non-referenced % in the article: in fact a great number of the
population still lives thanks to agriculture although this situation is
changing rapidly. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan
of all banks in Bali were 2.23 percent average, relatively quite low
compare to about 5 percent average of Indonesian banking industry
non-performing loan. The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry is slowly recovering once again.
Agriculture
Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island’s biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings,
stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual
villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden
furniture.
The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur.
Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This
results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavors
include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu
philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana”. According to this philosophy, the
three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and
the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the
production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee
from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.
Tourism
|
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2011) |
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while
significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist
locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The
Australian government last issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The
overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of
caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June
2012 due to one more tourist who has been killed by methanol poisoning.
An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real
estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta,
Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are
under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the
island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides
of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic
(many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment
into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices,
despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped
approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas
visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were
forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the
worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist
industry, but not due to any travel warnings.
Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and
2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and
surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a
steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57
million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million
tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65 percent,
so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years
without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010.
The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both
mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent
international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local
people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the
World's Best Islands, rank in second after Greece.
In August 2010, the film version of Eat, Pray, Love (EPL) was released in theaters. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's
best-selling memoir of the same name. It took place at Ubud and
Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the
No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list,
had already fueled a boom in EPL tourism in Ubud, the hill town and
cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for
balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier
of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese
tourists increased by 17 percent from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali.
In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by
222.18 percent compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists
declined by 23.54 percent yoy.
Transportation
The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries
cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at
Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly
encircles Denpasar and enables cars to travel quickly in the heavily
populated south. Bali has no railway lines yet.
December 2010: Government of Indonesia has invited investors to build Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali amounted $30 million In 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess)
will anchor about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbor.
The current pier is only 154 meters and will eventually be 300 to 350
meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbor would be
safer than Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of a panoramic view of
mountainous area with green rice fields.
By December 2011 the auction process will be settled and Tanah Ampo is
predicted to become the main hub for cruise ships in Indonesia by 2013.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometers of railway along the coast around the island. It should be operating by 2015.
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome
2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector.
On May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was
implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai
statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing.
ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and
other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police
headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN
countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.
On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport
toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This
has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with
60 percent of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91
kilometers toll road. The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49
trillion ($273.9 million) and is expected to be finished by April 2013
before the Apec
Summit and the Bali Summer Summit in 2013. The project will go through 2
kilometers of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometers of beach, both
within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road will be built over the
mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which will occupy 2 hectares
of mangroves forest. This will be compensated by new planting of
300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci
450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction
near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9
million) from the state budget.
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
Demographics
The population of Bali was 3,891,428 (at the 2010 Census). There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.
Religion
Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 93.18% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (4.79%), Christianity (1.38%), and Buddhism (0.64%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
When Islam surpassed Hinduism in Java
(16th century), Bali became a refuge for many Hindus. Balinese Hinduism
is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with
Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural
deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practiced in Bali is a
composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and
mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly
every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods".
Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism, and
adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This
influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are
present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its
own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger,
or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be
directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with
art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature
of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have
become famous for their graceful and decorous behavior.
Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese
immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a
result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion,
which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism,
but also find a way to harmonize it with the local traditions. Hence, it
is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan.
Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside
a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.
Language
Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual.
The word "bahasa" literally means language in Indonesian, and the most
common spoken language around the touristic areas in Bali are Bahasa
Indonesia, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese,
but migrant workers from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of
Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most
Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common
Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally
determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.
English is a common third language (and the primary foreign language) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry. Other foreign languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.
Culture
Main articles: Music of Bali and Balinese art
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.
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.
Tourism, Bali’s chief industry, has provided the island with a
foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating
new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact
of tourism
is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy,
the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and
were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual
context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance
have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as
exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of
these performances which have developed according to the preferences of
foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.
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.
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