In Bali: People, Religion, Mythology and Costume

OK, the title of this blog post sounds like a scholarly dissertation, which this isn't.  We've been in Bali almost a week, though, and I have been gobsmacked by the extent to which (mostly ancient) Balinese mythology surrounds us here, and is a real and present part of people's lives.

Immediately upon arrival in Sanur, Bali we saw an enormous number of stone carvings of manifestations of God/deities, demons, and animals.  Temples and shrines are everywhere - every village has a temple, every home has a family temple, most every field has a shrine -- and Balinese pay daily attention to these and other opportunities to express respect and gratitude.  Even the grounds of our hotel in Sanur had numerous stone sculptures.  

We've been to a couple traditional performances based in Bali's culture and religion.  Among the dances we saw, two included Barong characters like the one below.  Barong is the king of spirits, and a force for good against the harm which can be caused by the evil demon queen Rangda.

But what really astonished us was the enormous parade we attended, which started the annual month-long Bali Arts Festival.  There were throngs of Balinese people lining the streets, and parade floats and marchers going by for hours.  We were told that the musicians, dancers, and other dressed-up people attending came from schools, clubs, and other organizations all over Bali.

The costumes were magnificent, even if we don't have the background to know the full story behind each of them.  What was clear to us was that there was a story behind each.  And the more we read, look at exhibits, attend performances, and talk to people, we realize the extent of the catalogue of stories that are part of Balinese culture, and how intertwined these stories are with Balinese Hindu religion and the lives of most Balinese.

For now - take a look at some of the costumes and floats we saw in the Festival opening parade, with just a few comments thrown in:

This costume - one of a set of ornate fish costumes - looked pretty great when we first saw it.

But then the woman in the costume pulled the strings! 

Hanuman the Monkey God.

The onlookers thought these characters were pretty funny.

But they thought these guys, winding their way down the street in a boat, were absolutely hysterically funny.  Clearly an allusion to some story that we don't know, but quite amusing nonetheless !

Isn't a float one of the biggest costumes you can imagine?

The parade was visually fantastic, but what kept us there for hours was the combination of music, movement and costume.  You'll get a sense of it from the eight minutes of video below !

(If clicking on the video below doesn't work, you can see the video here: https://youtu.be/Dt5jBNiU8zg )

=======================================

Addendum:  After leaving Sanur, we went to Ubud (also in Bali).  Today we visited a celebrated mask-maker, Anom Suryawan.  Below you'll see a picture of him with a mask he made; and below that a mask made by Anom's great-great-grandfather.  Anom is the eighth generation of mask-makers in his family.  As I've tried to suggest:  culture runs deep in Bali.