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The rich traditions of Bali have always been adaptable to the consumer market. Painting was at one time sacred, and during the thirties was altered so it could be offered for sale, the religious dances went the same way, around the same time. The new ‘modern’ visitors of the thirties demanded a shift in the way Bali presented, and sold itself.
By the seventies handicrafts were heading towards mass production, designs and motifs were adapted from the original. Silversmiths, wood and stone carvers began to understand the niche markets of their western patrons and adapt their religious work to suit an ever-growing group of aficionados that took the Balinese influence way beyond the island to grace homes in all parts of the world.
Now in the 21st Century check any bookshop, world over and you will see the titles, Bali Chic, Bali Home Design, Balinese Architecture. Walk awhile in any overseas city and you will come across a shop with Balinese prints, Balinese dresses, or Balinese furniture. While some may feel the essence of the work has been watered down, others that the traditions have been exploited it is not hard to understand the lure of a world market for exposure and exchange. The trade in exports is bringing in big money for the Balinese crafts people, the exporting companies and the ex-pat communities. As one Balinese said to me recently “Anything for business”
And so it is with the festival known as Nyepi..
Nyepi is a religious festival the marks the onset of a New Year, and rather than rushing around like much of the ‘modern’ world in an effort to get totally wasted as the clocks strike midnight and fall into the arms of a stranger while singing a song that few understand, the Balinese take things very seriously. The Balinese spend their “New Years’ Eve” in silence.
Granted the day beforehand is spent in a wild almost animist, pagan like ritual that culminates in the banishment of the evil spirits from Bali. The Ogeh Ogeh processions that lead the New Year Festivities involve entire villages. Each banjar creates larger than life effigies representative of bad influence; grotesque figures with dragons tails, succubus breasts and the faces of chimeras and gorgons; lewd and perverted they grow into fully clothed, garishly painted statues along road sides and lurk at corners for unsuspecting visitors to reel in shock at their menacing stance.
Over the years the Ogeh Ogeh has become further sophisticated, gaining form from something that at one time would have been akin to a scarecrow or Guy Fawkes for the bonfire into massive paper, wire and plaster creations, sprayed with glossy and metallic car paint, dressed in vibrant fabrics and made up by ‘professional’ Ogeh Ogeh artists to the nines in black eyeliners, pulsating red lipsticks and pancake foundations.
Banned during election times for obvious reasons these mighty parades close down the streets on the first day of celebration as thousands turn out to follow their monsters carousing and celebrating the sacking of evil from within their midst. Cannons of bamboo eject exploding missiles into the night and at passing cars, bottles of arak are consumed and saucepans are banged creating enough disharmony to send the real spirits of evil up into the atmosphere in a fit of chaotic rage. And then…boom the lights go out!
As soon as the spirits leave the island descends into darkness. Confused and disoriented by all the noise the spirits move restlessly through the night unable to locate their home and drift in abject misery across the seas to who knows where, Lombok maybe?
As dawn breaks only the sounds of animals and the breeze are heard. Gone is the constant thrum of the two stroke engine, gone is the gear change on the corner, the ringing of the bicycle bell, the rumble of trucks on the road from Tabanan, the hurtling of coaches along the Sanur bypass and the collective sigh of brakes at the Renon lights. Gone are the flickering tvs, the neon strips above the padang food in the warung, gone are the lighted chapels of consumerism, Discovery Mall remains undiscovered, Waterbom doesn’t make a splash and KU DE TA is truly the essence of chill.
In homes across the island families sit in quiet contemplation, focusing inwards, meditating on their spiritual progress throughout the year, examining errors of judgment, questioning tragic events and making peace with themselves for all that has passed. As the sun sets, above in the stratosphere a plane may pass over on its way to Singapore, but all around is silence. The occasional patrol of the Banjar may shine a thin beam of light around to ensure no one is taking advantage of the shadows to engage in nefarious activity, but that aside all that shines are the carpet of stars and the moon.
Silence, calm and soft surrounds the island, and you can almost hear the earth sigh. As the Bukit heaves under the weight of its development, as the rivers choke on their unwanted tides of effluence, as electricity meters tick away in villas soaking up the power of a village on air-conditioners and pool pumps, Bali breathes. The rice fields soak up the waters, the corn fills out on the cob and the springs spend day without soap powder.
Just one day..to breathe.
The following day at a time specified by the government things return to ‘normal’ as people visit their families, celebrate the New Year together and make reparations in preparation for a new clean start to the year. Arguments are settled, grievances aired and put to rest and a sharing of food seals all the deals and prepares everyone for the year ahead.
And outside the chaos begins again, the machines and engines rev and roar, the tvs blare, the lights shine and the Bali machine cranks up again, pouring exhaust into the air and rubbish into the sea, but what a joy it was to have one day, just one day to breathe.
It is no wonder there is a movement to create a world wide day of silence..
But wait, what of the Ogeh-Ogeh’s, those towering monsters, where are they now? Banished, driven off island by the cacophony, burnt in symbolic fires that force them to flee. Well no, not these days.
They are still on the corner of the street, and they are for sale!
One way or another you too can buy into Nyepi…..Happy New Year
Insight Magazine - Bali
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