Day 7: March 2
Benoa Harbor, Museum Pasifika, Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, Jimbaran, Uluwatu, Kecak Fire Dance

We were off and running this day. After the usual morning yoga-mediation-teaching-breakfast, we headed to Benoa Harbor to see the fleet of traditional Balinese fishing boats.


This is the harbor, and these are some grungy old boats, but they are not the ones we were looking for. The fleet of traditional fishing boats was moved across the harbor a couple of years ago. Oh, well, on we go!


Founded in 2006, Museum Pasifika was designed to showcase native Balinese artists as well as several European artists who took up residence in Bali and produced noteworthy paintings.


Noteworthy examples of European artists.







Above left, and example of traditional Balinese mask. Mask carving in Bali is often a tradition handed down in families from generations to generations. On the right, Leah studies a piece of sculpture.


Next stop: the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. This is a 60 acre cultural park honoring two Hindu deities, Garuda and Wisnu (Vishnu.)


The park features beautiful stone carvings in a lovely natural setting.


The parks center pieces are huge bronze and copper statues of Garuda (above) and Vishnu (right.) In fact, this is the largest statue of Vishnu in the world.


Large bronze and copper stair bannister.


The Cultural Park has been widely criticized in Bali as too "Disney-esque" and not true to Balinese traditions. I can only say that the exhibits, statues, and particularly the traditional Balinese dance performance were very professional.

Above left, the Gamelan or music ensemble that is a long-standing Balinese tradition, and used to accompany dance and puppet performances. The instruments are percussive--xylophone-like instruments and drums--and cable of a surprisingly melodious sound.

Above right, traditional Balinese dancers. Typically, Balinese dance presents a traditional mythical story. The dancers tell the story using very specific dance and foot positions, hand movements, and eye and head movements, all the while showing a smile that never moves or changes.


Above left, the comic relief character, and above right, the hero.


Above,  the traditional monster, and above right some other hairy character.




After the cultural center, we stopped at Jimbaran Bay for lunch.


We enjoyed a traditional lunch of fresh seafood--literally. Our lunch was swimming in tanks before it was cooked and served up. I had a delicious red snapper.


We were serenaded at lunch, not by a Gamelan group, but by a traditional western beach band singing Eagles songs and Willie Nelson. So much for our Balinese cultural experience.

Our next stop is Uluwatu Temple.


Uluwatu is a large Hindu temple on a bluff overlooking the Indian Ocean. "Ulu" means "land's end," and "watu" means "rock," so the name is very descriptive of the site.


Above left is a photo of the main temple. The umbrellas are traditionally provided to cover statues of deities. The tall arched, semi-floating objects in this photo are "Penjors." They are tall, gracefully curved bamboo poles that are decorated and dangle over roads and open spaces with shells and other offerings. They are purposely tall, so that the gods on Mount Agung, Bali's most religious mountain.

The other common offerings are called Bantens, as already mentioned, and above right is my Banten that I made from palm leaves and bamboo according to traditional Balinese methods. Mine is filled with flowers, moss, and rice, plus a stick of incense. Our group made these to make an offering to our higher selves, not to a Hindu god. As luck would have it, the day we visited Uluwatu was a high holy day with multiple religious services and lots of devoted attendees, so we were not allowed inside the temple and had to leave our Bantens outside the door to the temple.


After our visit to the temple and before we adjourned to the Fire Dance performance, Lyndall and Bussho debriefed with the group about our experience.

Kecak is a form of Balinese dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s in Bali. It is also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, and is performed by a circle of at least 150 men wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and moving their hands and arms depicting a battle from the Ramayana.


In an amphitheater adjacent to Uluwatu Temple, we assembled at sunset to see a performance of the Kecak Fire Dance, depicting an epic battle from the Ramayana. The Ramayana is a "hero's journey" story that is one of two main epics that form the basis of Hindu beliefs. The battle scene depicted here tells the story of the rescue of Sita, Rama's wife, from the hands of the evil Rahwana, king of Alengka.


The all-male chorus enters and begins the traditional "cak-cak-cak" chant that continues the entire two hours of the performance. Much of the time the chorus is sitting in a circle chanting and using arm movements for emphasis, while dancers tell the story of Rama and Sita from the center of the circle.


On the left, Sita is about to be kidnapped by Rahwana disguised as an old beggar. On the right above, Sita pleads her case and begs to be released.


At the end of the performance, Sugriwa, king of the monkeys and his monkey army defeat Meganada, son of Rahwana, allowing Rama to rescue Sita. The defeat of Megananda's demon army is symbolized by Sugriwa launching the "fireballs" one by one into the sea. And they lived happily every after. Well, except for the part where Sita had to set herself on fire to prove her purity to Rama. In case you're wondering, she came out pure and unscathed.

At the end of our long day with our heads full of symbolism, religious stories, and archetypes, we rode th bus back to Klumpu Bali Resort and crashed.