Bali, Indonesia – At dawn, as the first shards of light dance over the rice fields in Sese, a seaside village on Bali’s west coast, Putu and her husband Made, who like many Indonesians only have one name, spend an hour praying. and distributed small letters. A basket of palm leaves containing offerings to ensure the health of the next harvest.
Later that day, my 11-year-old daughter will be attending the Sanghyang Dedari class. This is a sacred trance dance for girls designed to counter negative supernatural forces.
Meanwhile, her two older brothers are playing wooden instruments as part of a traditional “gamelan” orchestra in preparation for a ceremony celebrating the completion of a new Hindu temple, one of more than 10,000 on the island. He plans to hone his xylophone and drum skills.
In the coming weeks, Made and his children will help neighbors build giant “Ogoogo” dolls representing evil mythical creatures made of wood, bamboo, paper and Styrofoam. It will be paraded through the streets and lit the night before. Nyepi is the Balinese Hindu New Year.
This year, Nyepi, or Day of Silence, will be observed on March 11, when all lights across the island will be turned off, transport will be suspended, and the airport will be closed. Everyone, Balinese or not, will stay at home and give the impression to the evil spirits that there is nothing to be found on the island.
“I make offerings, attend ceremonies and go to temples every day,” Putu told Al Jazeera. “I'm doing this because I'm a Hindu and I believe in it. My children are doing the same thing and when they have children, they will too. I would do the same.”
Abnormal situation in Bali
Putu's hopes for the future are shared by the majority of Balinese people. On the island, a hybrid Hindu-Buddhist religion based on ancestor worship and animism dating back to the 1st century has survived and even thrived despite mass tourism.
By 1930, the number of tourists reached several hundred per year. According to government data, 5.2 million foreigners and 9.4 million domestic tourists visited Bali last year, and the island is developing at breakneck speed to meet demand.
The negative effects of such tremendous growth are depicted in a mural by Balinese artist Srinath, who combines iconic photographs of Balinese dancers with modern emblems such as gas masks and dollar bills.
“These old photos were the first images used to promote Bali tourism and communicate that Bali is an exotic place. They gave momentum to Bali tourism.” Srinath told Al Jazeera. “But then there were too many tourists and the exoticism of Bali was ruined. So I created this parody to express how much things have changed here since these photos were taken. is created.”
Despite this, Bali's traditional culture and religion has remained resilient in the face of the onslaught of tourists, which is in some ways unusual when compared to other popular tourist destinations around the world. That's it.
“Locals adapt when they entertain tourists. [to] Understand the needs, attitudes and values of tourists and eventually start following them. “By following the tourist lifestyle, young people make material changes,” the study was published in the Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Sports in 2016.
The study said Nepal's Pokhara Ghandruk community is a textbook example, where “the traditional fashion, behavior and lifestyle of young Gurungs have been severely affected by tourism”. [who] They do not follow the kinship titles of their elders. ” The report states that Indonesia is an exception and that “in order to attract tourists from far away, children should develop local customs and maintain a strong and authentic base of cultural elements without destroying ancestral values.” “It is a country that creates
Ai Nyoman Gede Maha Putra, a lecturer in traditional architecture at Warmadewa University in Bali, explains the roots of this approach.
“Colonial government policies dating back to the 1930s encouraged Balinese people to be Balinese, including school curricula, traditional food and drink production, and generous investment in religious monuments. “It has played an important role in preserving the so-called culture and religion of the island. It is the presence of God,” he said, adding that the new building, officially established in the 1970s, should not be taller than a coconut tree. He added that building codes mandating this helped preserve the island's “sense of place.”
“Soon all our young people will start making Ogo Ogo paper statues for Nyepi. No one will be left behind. They will enjoy the process, enjoy the parade and let tourists see what they have made. You will be proud to see it and because we strongly believe that the ghosts of our ancestors live all around us and our rituals are the only way we can communicate with them. Our daily rituals will continue,” Maha Putra said.
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Some say Bali is resilient because of the adaptability of Balinese culture.
“Balinese culture is not static,” I Ketut Putra Erawan, a political science lecturer at Bali's Udayana University, told Al Jazeera. “It has shown time and time again that it has the power to reinvent itself through the challenges and opportunities we face: tourism, social media, individualism, capitalism, popular culture, etc. A new age of youth Find new ways to relate to yourself.”
But he cautions that these new forms and expressions are not as solid as those of the past.
“Today we are inundated with so much information and misinformation, and they tend to promote the surface of culture, elements outside of culture, things like consumerism and fashion; It’s not the core,” Erawan said. . “Many people prioritize the wrong things in their cultural expression. I have always been interested in sharing my Balinese identity with people on social media.”
Rio Helmi, an Indonesian photographer whose work focuses on the interactions between indigenous peoples and their environment, agrees.
He worries that time is working against Balinese culture.
“I think there is some truth to that in terms of the strength of culture,” he told Al Jazeera. “But a lot of it is about identity, rather than engagement with the deeper parts of a culture and its values. What I see now feels more like form than function. People always say, 'Tori… repeating the phrase 'hita karana' – maintaining good relations between humans and God, humans and nature, humans and the environment – but it is often used as a slogan, such as those who build on sacred land. It feels like a bandage to hide something. There are still many people living traditional lives, so we need to be careful about generalizing. But the power of money is everywhere. ”
Today, high-rise hotels and condominiums many times the height of palm trees are being built along the island's traditional rice fields. But Helmi says that the greatest display of the disconnect between form and function will be on display during the Ogaoga Procession in Ubud, Bali's spiritual capital. Ubud has expanded from a quiet cultural village to a bustling tourist spot. Loudspeakers, souvenir vendors, outdoor stages, etc.
“This will be a real show performed for tourists, but in the village there will be an event of introspection, feeling the end of the year and casting out demons. It is their moment, their culture . This is not a show,” Helmi said.