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Indonesia. Where in the world is Indonesia? Southeast Asia, that’s where… Lonely Planet photographs “Indonesia is now the world's third-largest democracy, the world's largest archipelagic state, and home to the world's largest Muslim population.” CIA 2010
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Indonesia • Where in the world is Indonesia? • Southeast Asia, that’s where… • Lonely Planet photographs • “Indonesia is now the world's third-largest democracy, the world's largest archipelagic state, and home to the world's largest Muslim population.” • CIA 2010 • More than 17,500 islands; 6,000 are inhabited; 1,000 of which are permanently settled. • The island of Java, roughly the size of New York State, is the most populous island in the world (124 million, 2005 est.) and one of the most densely populated areas in the world • CIA Library and Facts on Indonesia • http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/
Science: Prodigious PlantTIME MAGAZINEMonday, Jun. 21, 1937 • “A specimen of the world's largest known flower last week bloomed in the U. S. for the first time. Custodian of this prodigy, whose scientific name is Amorphophallus titanum and which is called krubi by the islanders of its native Sumatra, was the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx. Only five times before had Amorphophallus titanum bloomed outside the Sumatra jungle—twice in London's Kew Gardens, once in Holland, once in Germany, once in a botanical garden in Java.”
“When it blooms it releases a pleasant smell of garbage and rotting meat, depending on who you ask. The plant is believed to be the largest flower that doesn't grow on a tree, and has been known to grow over 12 feet high at home on its native Sumatra. The stench is key to the plant's survival: it attracts carrion beetles and other pollinators. Carrion beetles lay their eggs in rotting animals, so the plant mimics the smell as a means of ensuring its survival…. It has an incredibly... unique... appearance. Let's just say that whoever named it was right on.” “Corpse plant" Amorphophallus titanum US Botanical Garden, owned by the Smithsonian:
The Traditional Culture of Bali • An island just east of Java in the Malaysia Archipelagoof Indonesia
The Environment • 2000 years ago farming began • Today less than 1/3 of the island is forested • A volcanic chain forms a large amphitheater in the south where most people live. It is called the Balinese rice bowl. • Monsoon rains run hundreds of inches of rain to the sea through 80 north south running rivers. • Each river is cut 50 to 200 feet deep into the volcanic soil, creating such steep sided trenchesthat east-west travel is almost impossible.
Villages are arranged in strings along the ridges between the rivers and on terraces on the slopes. On the north side of the mountains, the plain is shorter, with only two villages on the ridges, with others on terraces. Farming was not irrigated until 500AD - mining techniques were needed to deal with the deep ravines. The real value of the north is its accessto the maritime trade routes Farming
The People: • The first people: 5-6000 years before present. • Austronesians from Taiwan - known from language and religion (temples with square stone-walled courtyards). They populated from Madagascar across the Pacific to Easter Island. • They came to Bali and gave up the sea to build an amazing civilization!
Position in Traditional Bali • People in Bali organized themselves in terms of natural and social geography • kaja - means upstream, or towards the mountains. It is equivalent to goodness and heaven. • kelod - means downstream, or towards the sea. It is equivalent to filth and evil. Downstream is the direction of sewage.
Con’t • ALL things are arranged in terms of these two directions. • Houses: shrines are kaja, kitchens, stock pens and bathrooms are kelod.(eating is considered animal like) • Villages: Shrines are kaja, cemeteries are kelod. • (In America we don’t keep toilet paper in the kitchen! In Japan they don’t have a toilet in the same room with the bathtub!)
http:// http://baliguide.com/weather/index.html
kaja and kelod • Paling- an illness of disorientation caused by not knowing one’s position. Because of this, the Balinese do not like to drink alcohol. • The ocean is kelod. It is away from the mountains where the gods live, it is where all the filth washes away to, and it is easy to become disoriented there.
kaja, where the gods live kelod, where demons are at home
Humans are kaja and kelod as well. • The head is kaja, the feet are kelod. • Thus a person would NEVER turn around in bed, or- • stand on your head, or- • throw a child up and down, or spin them dizzy • or put your head below someone else’s feet. • --it is simply wrong - demons are sometimes upside down.
However... • It is never that simple. Villages obviously stretch up and down a ridge - so if it were this simple, only one would be kaja, and all others kelod. • Kaja and kelod are balanced, so each village is balanced…as is each house, as is each person...
All adults are poised. They carry themselves with care. Children are taught poise. Each movement is done carefully and with purpose. People don’t just walk, but place each step, place each arm/hand, turn their heads precisely and so on. “Shocking the body” occurs when movements are impulsive. It disturbs the feeling of well being. Falling is a very bad omen. Poise
Illness • Strength and Purity are balanced with weakness and impurity. • Illness waits for the body to be “out of balance”. • Illness is a failure, because it comes from “giving up” the fight to stay in balance. • One does not encourage illness by “pampering”
Of course in country like this, it doesn’t hurt to be careful where you put your feet. And it’s easy to see why falling is a “bad omen”.
Kaja and Kelod • It is misleading to see them as simple opposites. • Rather, they are balanced opposites. • They must exist together, as complimentary states. • Everyone is both, everything is both.
The “Outer World” is organized as three worlds - heaven (swah), the human world (bwah) and the lower world (bhur). Bali follows this ordering - The gods’ mountains are Swah, the plains are Bwah and the sea is Bhur. A village: upstream with temples is Swah, The houses are Bwah and the lower end with the cemetery is Bhur A temple: Where the offerings are is Swah, the courtyard is Bwah, and just outside the gates is Bhur. Human: head is Swah, Torso is Bwah, knees down is Bhur. So at Western, faculty offices are clearly Swah, classrooms Bwah and the dorms are definitely Bhur!! http://www.rasabali.com/bali-articles/kaja-&-kelod-in-balinese-40.shtml There are other ways of organizing, as well.“Outer World” (Bhuana Agung) “Inner world” (Bhana Alit)
The “Inner world” (Bhana Alit) • The inner world is similarly organized, but must be in-balance with the outer world. • And all must be in balance with kaja and kelod • If the door of the house is out of balance (placed badly) then the inhabitant can suffer from various ills, such as: • Pamali - a wind in the body (!!!) • Correcting the outer world can balance the inner world and so on… it is very complex! • This issue is balancing the opposites.
Visible and Invisible Energy • One must be in balance with the proper energy. • Learning is an invisible energy! • If one lives in a house that is above one’s position, then the energy will be too strong and you will be “burned.” • If one lives in a house that is below one’s position, the low energy will drain you.
Kinds of Order • Kaja and kelod • Social position – caste, gender, generation • Geographic position • Bodily position • Inner and Outer worlds • Visible and Invisible energy
The Tika: Cycles of Time • A calendar of 210 days, divided into ten different types of weeks ranging from 1 to 10 days in length. • Each type of week has a different name for each day in it. • All types of weeks run concurrently, so any given day has 10 different names. • Each week has different functions: • The 8 day week gives clues to a person’s identity in past lives. • The three day week is the market week. So different traders come throughout the year, but always on the same day. Such a schedule would be much harder with a 7 day week, as market day would happen on different days
The eight day week - Who are you?: • Sri - woman from the mother’s side • Indra - man from the father’s side • Guru - brother of the father • Yama man from the father’s side • Ludra - woman from the mother’s side • Brahma - man from the father’s side • Kala - person who died as a child • Uma - sister of the mother, grandmother, etc.
Kinship and Names • Kinship is dependent on only two things: generation and gender. • All men of your father’s generation on both sides of the family are called the same thing. This would include your father and uncles. • All the women of your mother’s generation on both sides of the family are called the same thing. This includes Mom and all your aunts. • Grandparents are the same names, but by gender. • Great grandparents are the same, regardless of gender - Kumpi. • Older siblings and cousins are one term, while younger siblings and cousins are another - by gender.
Birth Order names: • 1) Wayan, 2) Nyoman, 3) Made, 4)Ketut and then it starts over - 5) Wayan, and so on. • Each name is just one more in an endless sequence of names. • As you age you become Father of ...or Mother of… and then Grandfather of …etc. • Caste names are given at birth, never changed and never omitted when talking to one another - they are a clear social map of one’s social position.
The Arts • The air was never empty of music • complicated orchestral music • many many hours of rehearsal • All serious literature, poems and prayers begin with the letter ONG. • The sound of this letter resonates through the body alerting all of one’s gods and demons (your emotions, qualities and thoughts) to alertness and to their proper places.
Culture • A set oflearned attitudes, beliefs and values. • Culture shapes behavior within the context of the situation. • All culture is complex and unique. • Balinese culture causes them to perceive a sense of place in a much more detailed way than Americans might perceive it. • They need to maintain a balance between good and evil, between their inner needs and desires and the outer world. • Is it possible that Balinese Music NOT reflect this life-threatening and life preserving balance? Is it possible that Balinese Music is NOT concerned with a sense of one’s proper place?
