Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2015 | Page 41

TRAVEL

roosters to remind me of our visit.
The Balinese are overwhelmingly
religious and Balinese Hinduism is
deeply interwoven with both art and
ritual. The Hindu New Year known as
Nyepi is celebrated in the spring by a day
of ‘silence’. On this day everyone stays
at home and tourists are encouraged
to stay in their hotels. Just before the
day of the arrival of the New Year large
and colourful sculptures are paraded
and finally burned in the evening to
drive away evil spirits and other festivals
regularly take place throughout the
year. Much to my surprise there were
celebrations such as ‘the day of the car’
and a celebration of a ‘tooth filling’, more
locally recognised to be a coming of age
ritual. The most striking and unusual

was that of a celebration of a cremation
where tourists could participate in a
tour to observe an open air combined
cremation of several persons. Known
commonly as a ‘temple festival’ it involves
both ceremonial and ritual performances
which can be loud, boisterous and
atmospheric but are intended to depict a
true celebration of life.
Every day without fail our waitress,
following the serving of our breakfast,
sought our consent to retire to the quiet
garden area of the hotel to undertake
daily worship at a mini Buddhist Temple
set aside for this purpose. We once
observed her as she discreetly made
her journey to the temple with her daily
offering of fruit and food. It was very clear
to see that their beliefs formed a very

important part of their lives.
We were able to witness many
evenings of music and dance where the
men and women take special pride in
performing in exquisite costumes. We
were regularly invited to participate and
whilst on one occasion I succumbed to
such an invitation, my movements were
far from graceful!
Balinese society appears to be
influenced around family life in local
villages and closely tied to religion and
they are indeed an intriguing people with
much to offer and a warmth of welcome
to their visitors.
It was therefore not surprising to note
that Bali received the ‘Best Island Award’
from the Travel and Leisure Industry back
in 2010.
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