The Ceremony

Ubud is the place in Bali to experience Balinese dance, which is a very colorful, ornate and traditional show. They involve telling stories through dance, usually about good vs. evil and monsters and black magic, spirits and demons. It's very cool. The costumes are beautiful and decorative, and its certainly something that is central to Balinese culture. The shows are performed in the town center at various locations, however, for the true investigator, one can witness an authentic Balinese dance performance at a temple during a ceremony, seen by and performed only for locals. The shows in the town center are great, but it is geared for tourists. I was in search of a show where I would be the only foreigner in the crowd. Only then would I feel that I saw some real Balinese dance.

I started talking to locals, who are extremely friendly and generous, and learned that there was a ceremony going on all week long, day and night, at a huge temple complex a few miles outside of town. The ceremony falls for one week only once a year on the full moon, so it truly was a special time. And it is there that I can see authentic Balinese dance. I took a ride on a motorbike with a local to the temple, but first he had to dress me properly. I couldn't walk into a Hindu temple wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I had to dress in a sarong with a scarf wrapped around my waist and a head dress.

The scene at the temple was amazing. There had to have been 2,000 people at this temple, and ALL were Balinese. I was at the temple for four hours, and I saw only three foreigners, which made me feel good. I met a really nice local boy named Wyann and he showed me around. He then led me into a large praying ground, pictured below. I said to him, "But what do I say, I don't know what to do?" And in his broken English he said to me, "It no matter. You speak through heart." And that was that. I got holy water dropped on my head, I held the flowers in my palms, I breathed in the insence. I did what the Hindus did. It was far and away the most authentically cultural experience of my trip.

Below is me dressed in the temple, a scene from the performance where the demon casts a spell on the villagers, forcing them to turn on themselves, and the praying ground where I sat with Wyann and "spoke through heart."