The last ‘formal’ part of our whole adventure in SE Asia was a day spent travelling into the countryside around Ubud.
Narrow, winding roads were encountered for most of the journey.
The name ‘penjor’ is used to describe these tall bamboo poles. They are decorated with coconut leaves which have been cut into intricate shapes. They are used by Hindus in Bali for every important ceremony.
Penjors are the representation of mountains, particularly Mt Agung, the highest mountain in Bali. The Balinese see them as a symbol of the universe.
Galungan is a Balinese holiday marking the beginning of the most important recurring religious ceremony. This is the time when the spirits of cremated relatives return to their former home ancestral home on Earth. It occurs at different times each year as it is based on the 210 day Balinese calendar. Their living relatives have the responsibility of welcoming the departed back home by saying prayers and making offerings. Offerings are made up of root crops, such as sweet potato, fruit of any kind, grains, leaves, traditional cakes and 11 Chinese coins
Penjor are erected to show devotion to the God of the Mountain. The Balinese know that mountains contain forests and that these forests hold a lot of water. This water eventually ends up in rivers which in turn supports all their irrigation needs.
We drove to an area of beautiful rice paddies.
Another view of the terraces on which the centuries old paddies have been constructed.
The rice was in excellent condition. It was not far off flowering. In an attempt to assure a good crop, this small woven bamboo platform held offerings to the gods.
The paddies stretched off into the distance. Pockets of land were still covered in forest and coconut palms dotted the paddy bunds. This method of farming constitutes a very sensible form of agriculture compared to the Western broad acre form of agriculture. It is, however, very manpower / woman power intensive.
We came across these demon-gods stored in a covered area attached to a temple. No doubt they are paraded through the streets on important festival days.
Each family home has a number of ancestral shrines such as these. They contain the ashes of deceased relatives.
From the rice paddy area we drove on to Lake Bratan. It is known as the Lake of the Holy Mountain due to the fertility of this area. It is 1200 m (3937 ft) above sea level.
This out-rigger boat had seen better days.
On the edge of the lake is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (Pura Bratan) which is a major water temple. The temple was built in 1663 and is used to make offerings to the river goddess Dewi Danu as it is the main source of irrigation water for all central Bali.
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The main temple, of 11 stories, is dedicated to Shiva and his consort Parvithi.
The temple complex is surrounded by very well maintained gardens.
A Javan Pond Heron (Ardeola speciosa) wading through water plants looking for its favourite food of fish, insects and crabs.
Next, we drove to Tabanan, about 20 km, (12 miles) from Denpasar. Here we were to look at the Tanah Lot Temple.
To get to the temple, visitors have to run the gauntlet of hundreds of ‘tourist shops’. One, however, had a couple of civets on display. These were of interest to us as a result of our earlier visit to the plantation where the civet’s scats were collected to produce the ‘most expensive coffee in the world’.
The pointy-nosed animals wouldn’t stay still for a second for a good photo.
On the way to the shore we passed this gate to a shrine.
Tanah Lot is actually a rock formation which in Balinese means ‘Land Sea’. On it is built Tanah Lot temple, one of seven sea temples dotted along the SW coast of Bali. Believed has it that the temple dates from the 16th Century and that the site was chosen because of its beautiful setting. It is dedicated to the Sea God. It is believed that venomous sea snakes guard the temple and that the temple itself is protected by a giant snake.
In 1980, the Japanese government gave the Indonesian government a loan of about USD130 million to help with the restoration and conservation of the temple along with other significant projects around Bali. It’s a very popular place to visit!
Detail of the top of the temple. Only Hindus can actually visit it.
Pura Batu Bolong is another of the Pura Batu Bolong and is within sight of Tanah lot. It sits upon on a rocky promontory.
One of the very ‘touristy’ things to do in Tabanan is to be within sight of these temples at sunset. It was a partially cloudy day with clouds hanging on the horizon so it was decided that it was not worth waiting until sunset. It had been a long day already. We headed back to Ubud.
Unfortunately, I have to tell you folks that this is the last post for my Bangkok to Bali trip. I hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as I did.
But the good news is that my next adventure is about to begin…. this time to Nepal to visit some hill villages west of Pokhara for a very interesting project. So,please, keep following my posts for all the latest happenings.
David
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