Day 47: Temple-mania!
Although Indonesia is primarily a Muslim country, Bali is predominantly Hindu, and is known as the island of 1000 temples. So today, we rented a car and driver for a long day of temple visits!
We started off with a nice breakfast and then headed out to the first of many temples on our itinerary. When we arrived at the first place, we were fitted with sarongs and a sash on our waist – worn as a sign of respect in Bali (not a practice in India) – and entered the holy grounds. We walked around and then noticed that there were no idol statues anywhere. Having been into many Hindu temples and worshipping areas, we were expecting to see idols, but there were none to be found. We let this one slide, and went out to the next temple.
Same deal. No idols.
We were extremely confused. Bali, the island of 1000 temples, had no idols. We’re Hindu, so we know that Hindus use idols in their temples, so this was all a bit new to us. But there we were, visiting temple after temple, continually wondering what exactly was going on. After much confusion, we finally asked and found out that there are no statues! The idols that do exist are closed up and only opened once a year (but we have a sneaking suspicion there’s nothing behind those closed doors either because one priest opened a door for us to do a private offering and there was nothing there)!
After seeing umpteen temples and paying hefty entry fees at each one, we finished our temple tour a bit disappointed. I guess we had expected to see some beautiful statues and architecture from the island that is known for its stunning stone carvings! But unfortunately for us, we had no such luck. The one cool thing we noticed in every temple, however, is that there are guides available in every language! It was so cool to see people speaking fluently in all kinds of different languages to tourists.
Right before we were about to call it a day, our driver suggested we go see a “Kecak” (pronounced kay-chuck) show. After the day we had, we would take any sort of culture or art! So we agreed, and thankfully so, because the show was pretty awesome! Basically, about 40 men provide background music, singing “chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck” while dancers perform snippets of the Ramayan – an epic Hindu mythological poem. It was so beautifully done! Then, at the end of the performance, they had a trance and fire dance, where a man meditates himself into a trance and then dances on fire and even eats it! It was crazy! A great end to our day.
We grabbed dinner after the show and then went back to our room to ponder the idea of Hinduism without idols.
Although Indonesia is primarily a Muslim country, Bali is predominantly Hindu, and is known as the island of 1000 temples. So today, we rented a car and driver for a long day of temple visits!
We started off with a nice breakfast and then headed out to the first of many temples on our itinerary. When we arrived at the first place, we were fitted with sarongs and a sash on our waist – worn as a sign of respect in Bali (not a practice in India) – and entered the holy grounds. We walked around and then noticed that there were no idol statues anywhere. Having been into many Hindu temples and worshipping areas, we were expecting to see idols, but there were none to be found. We let this one slide, and went out to the next temple.
Same deal. No idols.
We were extremely confused. Bali, the island of 1000 temples, had no idols. We’re Hindu, so we know that Hindus use idols in their temples, so this was all a bit new to us. But there we were, visiting temple after temple, continually wondering what exactly was going on. After much confusion, we finally asked and found out that there are no statues! The idols that do exist are closed up and only opened once a year (but we have a sneaking suspicion there’s nothing behind those closed doors either because one priest opened a door for us to do a private offering and there was nothing there)!
After seeing umpteen temples and paying hefty entry fees at each one, we finished our temple tour a bit disappointed. I guess we had expected to see some beautiful statues and architecture from the island that is known for its stunning stone carvings! But unfortunately for us, we had no such luck. The one cool thing we noticed in every temple, however, is that there are guides available in every language! It was so cool to see people speaking fluently in all kinds of different languages to tourists.
Right before we were about to call it a day, our driver suggested we go see a “Kecak” (pronounced kay-chuck) show. After the day we had, we would take any sort of culture or art! So we agreed, and thankfully so, because the show was pretty awesome! Basically, about 40 men provide background music, singing “chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck” while dancers perform snippets of the Ramayan – an epic Hindu mythological poem. It was so beautifully done! Then, at the end of the performance, they had a trance and fire dance, where a man meditates himself into a trance and then dances on fire and even eats it! It was crazy! A great end to our day.
We grabbed dinner after the show and then went back to our room to ponder the idea of Hinduism without idols.
Besakih Temple
Kechak Dance
Trance and Fire Dance
No comments:
Post a Comment