“those kids have ‘taksu’!”

Globalizations –even in the world of children’s fun and games- seems inevitable, the swift wave of it has gradually affected the world of Balinese children. Their traditional fun and games have shifted by the advent of industrial and technological advances. These are some efforts that have spurred due to the realization and increased concern of the values of how the children are brought in to the world, so they will be knowledgeable about their own roots and cultural backgrounds thus being a closer part of the society. Made Taro is the island’s most beloved and well-known authority on Balinese traditional games. He is the founder of Sanggar Kukuruyuk, a Balinese traditional games workshop in Denpasar City. The Kukuruyuk Foundation was set up in 1979 with the aim of inspiring local children with stories, games, singing and theatre.

The traditional games contain high social and local values that prepare them for entering into the real world and adulthood, such as teaching economic value and democracy. There is no doubt that Bali has the best preserved ensemble of ‘young performing masters’ who equal their seniors in dances, stances, twirls and even linguistic art such as poetry. On the international stages, the sport has considered the seed of the island’s tourism, surfing, sees Balinese grooms taking surfing stances to the worldwide stardom of international surf brands and sponsors. Then jokingly people say, “those kids have ‘taksu’!” (endowed with divine power of skill and influence); Kuta kids skim the waves with a stance like a Baris dancer, no ‘goofy’ stances in the lingo. (From Nyoman Dana article at Bali and Beyond, with editing and additions)

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Never Alone with the Balinese

Bali people are famous as a warm-hearted person. A person in Bali cannot exist in solitude. Balinese society is very community oriented. The first invitation to attend the next village meeting is delivered to you practically as a wedding present. If ignored, it will result in a warning; if three invitations ignored, then the village may take actions against you. Since the community usually owns land, the village may revoke your privilege to till the land. Much of the rituals require massive effort, which usually the village shoulders in cooperatively. You will have to shoulder it yourself, should you decide to be an outcast. Along with other families in the village, you participate in meetings. You may play an instrument in the orchestra, or dance in the ceremonies. The women prepare the offerings, for their little shrines or for the village's offering to the Mother Temple of Besakih. If a child in a family is having his tooth filed, the rest of the village's women will help cook and prepare, and the men help erect a stage and decorate the house. In short, life in Bali is never alone. You can observe this even in little children. As their parents go to plant rice, the children - all seem to be in their best behavior - play with their age group.

The older ones will care for the younger ones. Fights rarely occur, and loud screams or cries are even scarcer. As if they have been taught to be at harmony with their surroundings. The Balinese are brought up in a close family circle of relatives, and a Balinese family traditionally consist of two parents and four siblings, hence the typically Balinese names Wayan, Made, Nyoman and Ketut. Then throughout the modern course of life, a Balinese person may pursue higher education overseas or perhaps even work there. Despite their being exposed to Western ways and thinking, they still have the conscience to return to their homeland and look after their seniors as well as to raise their own family, which at all times is attached to their ancestral integrity through the family temple. (from visit-mybali.blogspot.com and Nyoman Dana article with editing and additions)

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Unique Hindu Culture

Hinduism in Bali deeply interwoven with art and ritual that built the Balinese characters. Balinese Hinduism lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis on cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, but instead is concerned with a myriad of local and ancestral spirits. As with “kebatinan’’, these deities are thought to be capable of harm. Balinese place great emphasis on dramatic and aesthetically satisfying acts of ritual propitiation of these spirits at temple sites scattered throughout villages and in the countryside. Each of these temples has a more or less fixed membership; every Balinese belongs to a temple by virtue of descent, residence, or some mystical revelation of affiliation. Some temples are associated with the family house compound; others are associated with rice fields, and still others with key geographic sites. Besakih is the biggest temple in Bali and so that be the centre of Balinese to pray and another big Hindu events.

Ritualized states of self-control (or lack thereof) are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behavior. One key ceremony at a village temple, for instance, features a special performance of a dance-drama (a battle between the mythical characters “Rangda” the witch (representing evil) and Barong the lion or dragon (representing good)), in which performers fall into a trance and attempt to stab themselves with sharp knives.

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