The writers and Readers Festival may have been over but the fun continued in Ubud. We moved over to the lovely Kabun Indah and stayed initially in the Teahouse Room. Lovely and with a truely amazing bathroom.
This is the view from the veranda.
On the day of the major ceremony we bought sarongs from a lovely young woman in a shop on Jalan Monkey Forest. She had decorated the water feature out the front. She also showed us how to tie the sarong and sash properly.
It was really unclear what time things were happening for the Ceremony. The major Ubud ceremony associated with Ganung Labah proceeded up the Main Street to the market and then back again and was very spectacular. As luck would have it we arrived at the market at precisely the moment everyone had to sit and the prayers began.
Shortly after the procession went back up the Main Street to the temple.
That night there was a complete eclipse of a full moon. This is called a blood moon as the moon looks red. You can't really see it in my poor picture below!
This was the reason for the ceremony and 80% of the more than 4000 temples on Bali had a ceremony on the 9th of October.
Because of the significance of this event most of the villages were highly decorated.
The Balinese philosophy as discribed to us by our drivers Astra and Ronnie, as well as many others ( it seems that all Balinese are up for a philosophical/ spiritual discussion as soon as they know you are interested) involves daily rituals and giving thanks for life, the earth and all good things. There are obligations and rituals involving family, the village and the wider community in Bali, very much the idea of the Middle path, and a great capacity to not get emotionally caught up in everyday problems. When one becomes an adult in Balinese society at the age of 17, the tooth filing ceremony is held. This shows that you are a person and not an animal and that you will show self control against "the six enemies" I am not clear what they all are but it sounds much like the seven deadly sins and includes excessive lust, greed, gluttony and overwork.
The day after the ceremony we took a drive through the beautiful Sideman valley with Ronnie.
Great views of Agung from the Warung where we had lunch.
We went through a village that smelled fantastic. This is all cloves drying by the side of the road.
We visited a hand loomed fabric shop and did make quite a few purchases. The fabric is beautiful.
It was hard to say goodbye to Bali but I need to get back to my family and I know I will be back one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment