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National Geographic Bali Masterpiece of the Gods
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It has been called Morning of the World |
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Heaven on Earth |
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and The Last Paradise |
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Born of the fiery volcanic eruptions |
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Bali is one of the chain of islands |
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that stretches between Southeast of |
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On this isolated dot of land |
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an extraordinary civilization developed |
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which remains unique on earth |
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Here, vibrant religious beliefs find |
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dance, art and rituals created to |
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and placate and demons of |
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Admiring visitors have long feared |
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But the Balinese select what they desire |
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while clinging to their age-old ways |
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Everything remains centered on a |
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and life itself continues to be lived |
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Rooted in cults of ancient magic |
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fostered by rites of a mystical religion |
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it is a pageant constantly recreated |
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Bali, masterpiece of the gods |
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In the beginning there was nothing |
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All was emptiness |
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Then, say the old manuscripts |
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a turtle floating on the ocean |
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and resting upon it |
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the island of Bali |
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High in the skies |
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were the flaming heavens of the ancestors |
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and over all, the realm of the gods |
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The depths were inhabited by demons |
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In the middle world dwelt the people |
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Early migrations added Malaysian |
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and Polynesian bloodlines to the |
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As the centuries passed |
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people and ideas swept in from India |
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China, and Java |
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Separated from Java by a strait of |
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this speck of land 90 miles wide |
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60 miles long |
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is the only remaining stronghold of the |
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In Denpasar, the capital |
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the traditional and the new collide |
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Unquestionably the city is changing |
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as it attempts to deal with |
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and overpopulation-problems common to |
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But the people adapt skillfully |
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While utilizing material objects |
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they hold fast to the powerful traditions |
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Some 1200 years ago |
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Hindu thought first fired the Balinese |
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The flames of belief were fanned as |
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successive tides of Hindu influence |
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From its precepts |
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the Balinese fashioned their |
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According to its teachings |
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the priestly class is the highest of |
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The high priest of Kamenuh begins |
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accompanied by ritual gestures |
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to prepare holy water |
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It is used in such profusion |
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that the Balinese fondly call Agama Hindu |
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For the Balinese life is only apart of |
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and rebirth onto the same family |
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one step in the soul's long process of |
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Every newborn comes into this world |
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therefore, treated with the reverence |
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The high priest and his priestess wife |
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officiate at the rite that marks |
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Until today |
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the baby was still so close to heaven |
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She was not yet a human beings |
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she did not even have a name |
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A temple priest purifies her |
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and magic symbols are inscribed on the |
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While bound to the spiritual realm |
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she was never allowed to touch |
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Now, her feet touch the ground |
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Relatives take gifts |
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symbolic of riches |
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from a vessel filled with holy water |
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and put them on her |
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This ceremony symbolizes the beginning |
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The baby is now her mother's child |
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Rice is the divine gift that sustains |
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About half the island's population |
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make their livelihood farming |
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they call "steps of the gods" |
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Embraced by the ice fields |
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and hamlets where most of Bali's |
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In these tightly-knit communities |
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every married man is obliged to belong |
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or banjar, |
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Like generations of their ancestors |
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Ketut Kantor and his cousin |
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Made Tubuh, were born |
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They live and work side by side |
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Mrs. Kantor was born here too |
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she met her future husband |
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When they married |
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Behind its enclosing wall |
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the compound is laid out according to |
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By night its open pavilions |
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by day for family activities |
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The villages of Batuan is renowned |
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Mr. Kantor observes |
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"In Batuan |
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most people participate in the arts |
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Without art, people would not be normal" |
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Each person must have a feeling for art |
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painting, dance, even working in |
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Fifty years ago |
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the renowned American anthropologist |
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that the arts are part and parcel of the |
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as much as the village community |
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The compound is a little universe |
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complete with everything from a family |
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and vegetable garden |
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Bananas and other fruits, coffee |
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and vanilla are grown here |
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Little is wasted |
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Long ago I studied weaving |
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I began when I was about eight years old |
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Some of the things I weave |
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are given to my children to wear |
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I very much enjoy making offerings |
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because since I was a child |
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I was attracted to the decorations |
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Making them is not really work |
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Our belief in God makes it pleasurable |
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Mr. Tubuh's daughter, Deni |
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has come from her home next door to help |
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Soon she will move here |
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she and the Kantors' eldest son plan |
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Everyday the woman place offerings |
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throughout the compound to appease |
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These, made of rice dough are specially |
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After school village boys congregate |
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In Bali |
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children dance like American youngsters |
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Kantor has been dancing at religious |
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His sons are accomplished dancers, too |
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But today they play gamelan |
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the shimmering music of gongs |
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that accompanies all religious |
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Mr. Kantor's father |
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was one of the most famous |
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He also taught dance to many of the |
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Recalling historic battles |
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the baris dance emulates |
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and frightening expressions of |
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Teaching dance |
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Kantor fulfills his obligation |
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and his father's legacy |
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A system of water temples high |
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coordinates rice farming for the |
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The farmers are organized into subaks |
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age-old cooperatives that insure |
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even the lowest terraces receive their |
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Mr. Kantor's father bought rice paddies |
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with money he earned touring world |
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My father taught me how to read the fields |
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use the cows |
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and the best time to plant |
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When we work and prepare the land |
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it unifies and makes us one with the land |
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As with every major event in Balinese life |
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a propitious day is selected for the |
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Rituals will ensure protection |
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and the rice will be watched |
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Every morning and again |
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the Balinese baths in village |
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For centuries |
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the highly productive rice-growing system |
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has freed the relentlessly |
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to perfect the arts that serve |
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On an auspicious night |
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Mr. Kantor will present topeng |
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a masked dance-drama |
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for his ancestral gods |
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With offerings |
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he requests permission from the ancestors |
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He says |
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These are sacred masks that were used |
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gifts from priest and kings |
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Some are 200 years old |
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The first time I performed |
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my father arranged for a special |
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for my thoughts and feelings to become |
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When my father died |
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I dreamed he asked me to dance |
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I took this mean that he gave me |
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The masks represent historic characters |
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prime ministers and kings |
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as well as clowns |
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With them he enacts stories based |
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Before I perform |
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I often dream of my father when I dance |
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we dance together |
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As stories of the past echo |
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the children learn the history of |
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thus binding the generations together |
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While pleasing the gods |
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Kantor's dance provides him |
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and the community with spiritual |
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The success of human endeavor depends on |
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gods and demonic powers in balance |
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Communion with divine is made possible |
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Traditionally |
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art has not been created |
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but as a group effort to serve the gods |
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The Balinese have no word for art |
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Yet entire villages are made up of |
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who are also brilliant sculptors |
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dancers, musicians, and painters |
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The villages of Mas has long been famous |
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Ida Bagus Anom is a mask-maker |
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Anom himself is a masked dancer |
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so he has a deep understanding |
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with which a good ritual mask |
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In Bali we can see two kinds of masks |
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One mask is for decoration |
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So when we start a mask like this |
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...and I finish it |
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But the mask has no power |
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no soul, no spirit |
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That's one |
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Another one is the mask that |
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or in Bali we believe the mask |
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So if I make a mask like that |
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the first time cutting the wood |
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I must find a good day |
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And then when the mask is finished |
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we make an offering |
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and then bring it to the temple |
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and the priest calls the spirits |
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So a lot of it is with the religion |
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The most difficulty to make a mask |
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If you want to make a minister |
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you must keep the soul |
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the character like a minister |
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If you make a king |
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you have to keep the soul |
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So you need to know the story |
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When I am making a mask |
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when I am carving a mask |
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I am already thinking about the movement |
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So, like music, Carving, and dancing |
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you must have a connection |
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So when I'm carving a mask |
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I be thinking about the movement |
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Anom continues to create expressive |
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He also makes original and inventive |
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who eagerly seek his craftsmanship |
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As foreigners became more interested |
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art entered a new era in this century |
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But the connection between art |
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In the village of Pengosekan |
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headman Dewa Nyoman Batuan exhibits |
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and sells his artworks |
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Batuan reflects on the nature |
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Paintings start form religion |
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Everything is coming from God |
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Because when we make painting |
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first we must think about God |
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Painting makes men closer to God |
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Bima is a character form the Mahabharata |
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a 2000 year old Hindu narrative poem |
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In this painting that illustrates |
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he stands on the turtle |
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Below, hell is full of demons mythical |
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Bima must rescue his father's |
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and secure its admission to heaven |
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The painting mirrors the pervasive |
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A thousand years ago |
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the flickering movements of the |
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or shadow play, were brought from Java |
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Puppets cast their shadows on a screen |
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as they are manipulated by a mystic |
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The cinematic images he creates are |
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comparable to our TV |
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His assistants help set up the puppets |
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noble character on the right |
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evil characters on the left |
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Based on Hindu epics |
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this traditional form of spiritual |
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also incorporates issues of topical |
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Most of the play is presented |
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a language not understood |
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Only the clowns |
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the characters with movable mouths |
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They reinforce the story with the help |
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The performance will last far into |
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At the end, evil will be vanquished |
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the cosmos restored to order |
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At Pangarebongan Temple on the outskirts |
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a festival links the worlds of men |
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and spirits in one of the most mysterious |
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A barong, |
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is escorted into the temple |
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Within, scores of boys and |
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In her 1939 landmark film |
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Margaret Mead documented this |
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Rangda the witch is the Balinese |
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Each of her followers carries a dagger |
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After an altercation between Rangda |
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the Barong tries to revive his entranced |
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When all have fallen into trance |
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they turn their daggers on themselves |
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The participants believe fully in trance |
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and the protection of Rangda |
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The daggers will not pierce their skin |
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no matter how hard they push |
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Trance is an altered state |
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in which the Balinese put aside their |
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It is genuine |
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Trance mediums pray for the spirits |
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Once in trance |
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they are believed to be in direct |
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They are led outside the temple |
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who wear black and white |
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symbolic of good and evil |
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Rangda appears |
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Simply putting on the spiritually |
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causes those who wear them to fall |
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Through this communication between |
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the deities demonstrate their presence |
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Such rituals have kept the Balinese world |
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As foreign artist and anthropologists |
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in the 1920's and '30s a few hundred |
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In 1969 the government built a jet |
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The next year, 24,000 people visited |
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Two decades later the number had jumped |
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Fearful of uncontrolled growth |
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the government has restricted large |
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After a single highrise hotel was built |
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a law was passed to regulate construction |
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No new building can be higher |
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Some visit Bali just for the beaches |
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At the same time |
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many discriminating visitors |
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for what has been called cultural tourism |
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They have become patrons of the arts |
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Their interest in Balinese creations is |
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who have found a new source of income |
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by simply continuing to do they have |
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Since the 1920's, Balinese painters |
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while retaining native subject matter |
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have found inspiration in the works of |
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Experimentation in themes, materials |
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and approach has resulted in a fusion of |
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Sanur Beach has been the site of |
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the Japanese, and more recently, tourist |
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Despite inevitable change |
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the people retain their village |
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Eleven- year-old Wayan Mastri and her |
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It was the Indonesian government |
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Today, education is compulsory for all |
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with parents required to pay a small fee |
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On Mondays school begins with the |
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in the Indonesian language |
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an important element in unifying the |
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made up of diverse cultures |
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While other classes are taught |
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religion is taught in Balinese |
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Just steps away from a popular beach |
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yet worlds away |
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Mastri and her family live |
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They work together |
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to supplement the modest |
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It takes a full day to craft one kite |
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They are sold to tourists for about |
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The Balinese themselves are very fond |
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Mastri's younger brother and sister |
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take their own gaily painted birds |
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to dance in the wind above Sanur Beach |
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At festivals celebrated on each |
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the gods are called down |
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from their home above the mountains |
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and greeted with elaborate offerings |
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Mastir and her family join the stream |
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at the Temple of the Dead in Sanur |
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By cleaning and decorating the temple |
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As well as preparing offerings |
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everyone has shared in creating the |
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The gods will remain on earth |
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the temple alive with the prayers of |
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When the festival ends |
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the gods will depart until next year |
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For most Balinese the sea |
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a realm inhabited by demons |
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Remarkably |
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Bali is one of the new island societies |
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But when the tide is right |
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Mastri's father and brother brave |
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They have no boat and only a minimum |
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The boy is learning from his father |
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how to catch the tropical fish |
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that provide most of the family's income |
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He will sell the fish to an exporter |
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In the compound they prepare the fish |
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The Bags are filled with oxygen |
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The fish will be sold at high prices |
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to shops that cater to tropical |
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At the Tandjung Sari hotel on Sanur Beach |
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Mastri and other local youngsters are |
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The management has created a foundation |
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to preserve music and dance |
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They believe that since hotels |
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as the economic base here |
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they have a responsibility to the |
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Every Saturday night Mastri and |
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are transformed from school girls |
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Legong Kraton |
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its story drawn from 13th century Java |
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was once performed only in royal palaces |
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Traditionally legong is danced by girls |
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who have not yet reached the age of |
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Every performance is preceded by rituals |
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to insure that the spirit world will |
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Contemporary anthropologist |
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Often the "young find their identity |
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as Balinese framed by the mirror |
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that tourism holds up to them |
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This has led many of them to celebrate |
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their own traditions with continued |
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This legong portrays a kidnapped princes |
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a heroic prince, |
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Dances learned here are also performed |
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The dancers receive a small token payment |
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But their deepest reward is in |
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filling a spiritual need in themselves |
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There is growing awareness in the |
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of the priceless value of their culture |
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and its potential vulnerability |
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ASTI, the performing arts college |
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is under the direction of |
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Son of a dance master |
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he learned to dance |
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and play gamelan instruments in |
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Later he earned advanced degrees |
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ASTI has 400 students and 60 faculty |
| 00:41:50 |
Dr. Bandem also invites dance master |
| 00:41:54 |
to share with students the diverse styles |
| 00:41:59 |
Dr. Bandem... |
| 00:42:01 |
Our curriculum in ASTI is really a |
| 00:42:05 |
between ideals of villages and |
| 00:42:09 |
ASTI is not separated from the society |
| 00:42:20 |
The subjects they learned at school |
| 00:42:22 |
is not only technique, music, and dance |
| 00:42:24 |
but also learning anthropology, history |
| 00:42:28 |
and other related cultural background |
| 00:42:31 |
so they can strengthen their |
| 00:42:58 |
In the countryside |
| 00:42:59 |
the meticulously tended rice terraces |
| 00:43:03 |
as they have for centuries |
| 00:43:06 |
Working together |
| 00:43:07 |
the Kantor family gathers the stalks |
| 00:43:12 |
Mr. Kantor says |
| 00:43:16 |
Rice is a very great gift from god |
| 00:43:20 |
Rice gives life to the Balinese people |
| 00:43:37 |
For the Kantors |
| 00:43:38 |
this marks the successful culmination |
| 00:43:51 |
A ceremonial dish delivered |
| 00:43:55 |
as the invitation to a unique rite of |
| 00:44:01 |
This is the tooth-filling ceremony |
| 00:44:03 |
a ritual that symbolically concludes |
| 00:44:09 |
The high priest has blessed |
| 00:44:11 |
to make the operation painless |
| 00:44:16 |
After death |
| 00:44:17 |
one may be denied entrance |
| 00:44:20 |
if his teeth have both been filled |
| 00:44:22 |
The priest files the points of the |
| 00:44:27 |
This diminishes what the Balinese |
| 00:44:31 |
greed, anger, and jealousy |
| 00:44:50 |
The fillings will be buried |
| 00:45:05 |
Marriage is the final initiation |
| 00:45:09 |
All Balinese know their most important |
| 00:45:13 |
who, one day, will perform the cremation |
| 00:45:19 |
From her home next door |
| 00:45:20 |
Deni walks to the Kantors' compound |
| 00:45:23 |
that will unite her with their eldest son |
| 00:45:33 |
A priest purifies the couple with holy |
| 00:45:53 |
They walked in a circle three times |
| 00:45:55 |
Deni balances a market basket |
| 00:45:58 |
Wayan carries food to suggest |
| 00:46:03 |
The moment when Deni breaks the string |
| 00:46:05 |
signals the end of their lives |
| 00:46:09 |
their entrance to a new world as a couple |
| 00:46:17 |
Age-old gestures insure fertility |
| 00:46:38 |
In the Kantors' family shrine |
| 00:46:40 |
Deni |
| 00:46:43 |
From this day forward she embraces |
| 00:46:52 |
All over the island villagers gather |
| 00:46:55 |
to prepare for a momentous event |
| 00:46:59 |
A fine cremation is the life long |
| 00:47:04 |
But a grand send-off requires the work |
| 00:47:07 |
and much money |
| 00:47:09 |
Mass cremations |
| 00:47:11 |
for which the entire village shares |
| 00:47:14 |
are the answer |
| 00:47:16 |
Teams of artisans fashion sarcophagi |
| 00:47:37 |
In the Kantors' village the rhythm |
| 00:47:40 |
that cremation ceremonies will soon begin |
| 00:47:44 |
The people have spent years saving |
| 00:47:48 |
In the graveyard villagers... |
| 00:47:53 |
...custom |
| 00:47:56 |
or even longer, |
| 00:47:58 |
before the all-important cremation |
| 00:48:01 |
Mr. Kantor reflects |
| 00:48:06 |
As we dig up our ancestors' remains |
| 00:48:10 |
we remember how they helped is and |
| 00:48:14 |
Now we are without them |
| 00:48:16 |
We are very saddened |
| 00:48:21 |
Mr. Kantor's mother in law died |
| 00:48:25 |
Now her bones are carefully |
| 00:48:33 |
Village men and boys assemble |
| 00:48:37 |
a symbol of their loyalty to the deceased |
| 00:48:42 |
The families carry wood |
| 00:48:50 |
Strict caste rules dictate the shape |
| 00:48:54 |
Because Mrs. Kantor's mother was |
| 00:48:58 |
her sarcophagus is shaped like a |
| 00:49:08 |
The raucous, joyful journey to the |
| 00:49:21 |
The sarcophagus are turned in |
| 00:49:24 |
to confuse the souls of the departed |
| 00:49:26 |
and ensure that that will not wander |
| 00:49:39 |
Carrying holy water and offerings |
| 00:49:43 |
the Kantor join the other families |
| 00:49:52 |
Again, the remains are purified |
| 00:50:01 |
Offerings also serve as fuel |
| 00:50:12 |
Only when the body is destroyed |
| 00:50:14 |
is the soul free to be reunited |
| 00:50:19 |
This act is the most sacred duty of |
| 00:50:26 |
Our greatest happiness occurs |
| 00:50:28 |
whenever we are successful |
| 00:50:31 |
and freeing our ancestors |
| 00:50:39 |
This type of ceremony does not cause |
| 00:50:43 |
but creates a moment of happiness |
| 00:50:45 |
Cremations are a ceremony to free the |
| 00:50:50 |
a way of ending a long life and |
| 00:50:53 |
at the same time |
| 00:50:54 |
beginning a new one |
| 00:51:26 |
The ashes are taken to the sea |
| 00:51:28 |
the final act in the cremation |
| 00:51:30 |
that marks the passage from this life |
| 00:51:38 |
And between incarnations the soul |
| 00:51:44 |
but devoid of all trouble and illness |
| 00:51:52 |
In the endless round of life |
| 00:51:54 |
by carefully discharging their |
| 00:51:58 |
the Balinese have kept their world |
| 00:52:04 |
The effects of modernization on |
| 00:52:07 |
are profound Paradoxically |
| 00:52:10 |
tourists help preserve |
| 00:52:14 |
while propelling the Balinese |
| 00:52:15 |
toward a share of the wealth |
| 00:52:28 |
Ever since they first arrived on these |
| 00:52:31 |
admiring outsiders have feared |
| 00:52:33 |
that foreign ideas might swamp this |
| 00:52:38 |
But while the 20th century |
| 00:52:39 |
has given the Balinese new ways of |
| 00:52:43 |
it has also renewed their determination |
| 00:52:54 |
As long as they remain bound together |
| 00:52:59 |
religious rituals, and ancestral loyalty |
| 00:53:03 |
Bali will remain an oasis of beauty |
| 00:53:07 |
the masterpiece of the gods |
