Bali

Top picture is a fire dance performed as a daily ritual at sunset, and next to it are the puras.
The garden of Hindu King Parman is in a serene setting depicting heavenly abode of the king.

I was very fascinated by the Bali's Hindus and would consider them having complex society , belief system and culture that work very well for them. I have been to many places in the Nusantara, and it is Bali that I considered authenthic Nusantara practicing belief and rituals and living life uniquely Nusantara . The rest of the Nusantara, the influence of Islam which have brought along with it Middle Eastern cultural element and its society have consumed them wholesale , many traces of local belief, tradition and customs has been eroded and would finally be buldozed by the islamic movement, for otherwise to practice such belief would be considered unislamic.

The Bali people are very ritualistics, more ritualistic than the Hindus in Malaysia. Prayer offerings are done obediently many times a day and the offerings are elaborately hand crafted pandan or kelapa leaves , and that itself is a labour of love towards god. The offering are placed in the pura, but they can be placed at any places where the spirit can feast. The puras are meticulously maintained and is the centre around which the Balinese religious and social life activities evolve.The puras are everywhere, even rooftop are turned to puras. Going into puras with its 7 half gate is like transcendenting from worldly earth into cosmic realm. One leaves behind one's world trapping as one leaves each gate and finally when one reaches the inner gate, it would be only him in his extreme purity form and God to he devotedly pray.This is the religous experoence a Bali Hindu goes through when he enter the sactuaty of God.


Bali have many visual and performing artforms that the Baliness pursue with talent and creativity.Bali paintings and engraving depict the Balinese life in religion, social and pursuit of economic activities. Its ritualistic dances are entralling drawing theme from Ramayana, local folklore and spiritual belief. Its architecture is harmonious with its environment , and its garden blend well into the lush tropical landscape.Everybody is an artist expressing himself limitlessly in a variety of forms and genre.

Bali has also organises its society well in traditional government that enable itself to resolve conflict and moves with progress.Every Balinese is a member of a community to which he must subscribe his allegiance and follow its social norms. A non conformist is rare and is sanctioned and the community's effort gets the support of the community members. The Balinese are polite with one another and would not disturb the prescribed order. Many other rural society in the Nusantara are practising the same system, but for a place as cosmopolitan and commercialised as Bali, the Balinese are unperturbed by the imported touristic cultures to live on with their traditions.

Versailles

The palace and its immaculate garden sit on a large tract of land that also contain the hunting ground of the king.The interior wall and ceiling are decorated with the work of masters of the era. The city of Versailles itself is lined with trees, decorated with gardens, well connected to Paris through a regular train and having good restaurants serving French cuizine.

The King of France must have been a maniac to build such a palace for himself. It was a gigantic , even compared to the Buckingham Palace and the Forbidden City. As I wonder in amazement at the sheer size of the buildings and the palace ground, my thought brought me home to Malay rulers palaces in Malaysia such as Istana Kenangan in Kuala Kangsar and Istana Sri Menanti in Pilah, which to more a practical abode but to the king of France would merely would regard as a hut. In the mind of the kings of France a palace like Versailes was the testimony that France was the most powerful, rich, cultured and ferared nation on earth to have deserve such a palace

The next day I had the oppurtunity to go through a special guide who nerrated to me about the life in the palace.The interior was much more flourishing than the exterior as the most modern decors of the era, the best paintings, the latest furniture and exquisite artwork are on display in all parts of the palace. As the King , particurly Louise the 16 is the passionate patron of arts, every artifects is the work of arts. It again reflect France as the centre of world's arts and culture.

Regardless of the materials riches that surround King Louis in his palace, The King as it appreared to me was never a settled personality. He was paraniod about losing his grip on France and its far flung empires. He was wary of the intrique in the palace that comes from palace courts and relatives. Most of the times he was a lonely figure, seldom in contact with even the wife and the kids.France and its empire was a burden on Louise and he slept little as the enemies were at the gates. He hardly left the palace, and as a result he lost control over France , and finally it was the enemy within, that was the people of France that threw the monarchy and established a republican France.