HINDU IN BALI AND INDONESIA

Hinduism in Indonesia, also known by its formal Indonesia name Agama Hindu Dharma, refers to Hinduism as practised in Indonesia. It is practised by 93% of the population of Bali, but also in Sumatra, Java (especially by the Tenggerese people on the east), lombok and Kalimantan. Although only about 3% of Indonesian population is officially Hindu, Indonesian beliefs are too complex to classify as belonging to a single world religion. In Java in particular, a substantial number of Muslims follow a non-orthodox, Hindu-influenced form of Islam known as 'Islam Abangaan' or 'Islam Kejawèn', while across the archipelago the Hindu legacy, along with the older mystic traditions, influences popular beliefs.

The advent of Suharto's 'new order' resulted in an increasing Indonesianisation of both Hindu Dharma and Parisada Hindu Dharma, partly due to the fact that every Indonesian citizen was now required to be a registered member of one of the five acknowledged religious communities (Islam, Christianity [i.e. Protestantims or Catholicism], Hinduism and Buddhism). Inspired by the Hindu Javanese past, several hundred thousand Javanese converted to Hinduism in the 1960s and 1970s. When the adherents of the ethnic religions Aluk To Dolo (Sa'dan Toraja) and Kaharingan (Ngaju, Luangan) claimed official recognition of their traditions, the Ministry of Religion classified them as Hindu variants in 1968 and 1980. The Parisada Hindu Dharma changed its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia in 1984, in recognition of its national influence spearheaded by Gedong Bagus Oka.

CONTENS

1. History
2. General Beliefs and practices
3. Hinduism in Bali
4. Javanese Hinduism
5. hinduism elsewhere in the archipelago
6. Hindu holidays in Indonesia
7. In a Political Context.
8. In a Social Context
9. In an Economic Context

HISTORY

At the peak of its influence in the 14th century the last and largest among Hindu Javanese empires, Majapahit, reached far across the Indonesian archipelago. This accomplishment is interpreted in modern nationalist discourses as an early historical beacon of Indonesian unity and nationhood, a nation with Java still at its center.

That the vast majority of contemporary Javanese and Indonesians are now Muslims is the outcome of a process of subsequent Islamization. Like Hinduism before it, Islam first advanced into the archipelago along powerful trade networks, gaining a firm foothold in Java with the rise of early Islamic polities along the northern coast. Hinduism finally lost its status as Java's dominant state religion during the 15th and early 16th century, as the new sultanates expanded and the great Hindu empire Majapahit collapsed. Even then, some smaller Hindu polities persisted; most notably the kingdom of Blangbangan in eastern Java, which remained intact until the late 18th century.

Islam met with a different kind of resistance at a popular and cultural level. While the majority of Javanese did become 'Muslims', following the example of their rulers, for many among them this was a change in name only. Earlier indigenous Javanese and Hindu traditions were retained by the rural population and even within the immediate sphere of the royal courts, especially in a context of ritual practice. In this sense, the victory of Islam has remained incomplete until today.

GENERAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Practitioners of Agama Hindu Dharma share many common beliefs, which include:

A belief in one supreme being called 'Ida Sanghyang Widi Wasa', 'Sang Hyang Tunggal', or 'Sang Hyang Cintya'. God Allmighty in the Torajanese culture of Central Sulawesi is known as "Puang Matua" in Aluk to dolo belief.

A belief that all of the gods are manifestations of this supreme being. This belief is the same as the belief of smartism, which also holds that the different forms of God, Visnu, Siva are different aspects of the same Supreme Being. Lord Shiva is also worshipped in other forms such as "Batara Guru" and "Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva) are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims.

A belief in the Trimurti, consisting of:

1. Brahma, the creator
2. Wisnu or Visnu, the preserver
3. Ciwa or Siva, the destroyer

A belief in all of the other Hindu gods and goddesses (Dewa and Bharata)

The sacred texts found in Agama Hindu Dharma are the Vesas. Only two of the Vedas reached Bali in the past, and they are the basis of Balinese Hinduism. Other sources of religious information include the puranas and the itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabrata).

One of Hinduism's primary ethical concerns is the concept of ritual purity. Another important distinguishing feature, which traditionally helps maintain ritual purity, is the division of society into the traditional occupational groups, or varna (literally, color) of Hinduism: Brahmins (priests, brahmana in indonesia),Kshatriya (ruler-warriors, satriya in Indonesian), Vaishya (merchants-farmers, waisya in Indonesian), and Shudra (commoners-servants, sudra in Indonesian). Like Islam and Buddhism, Hinduism was greatly modified when adapted to Indonesian society.

The caste system, although present in form, was never rigidly applied. The epics mahabarata (Great Battle of the Descendants of Bharata) and Ramayana (The Travels of Rama), became enduring traditions among Indonesian believers, expressed in shadow puppet (wayang) and dance performances.

The Indonesian government has recognized Hinduism as one of the country's five officially sanctioned, monotheistic religions. Partly as a result, followers of various tribal and animistic religions have identified themselves as Hindu in order to avoid harassment or pressure to convert to Islam or Christianity. Furthermore, Indonesian nationalists have laid great stress on the achievements of the Majapahit Empire – a Hindu state – which has helped attract certain Indonesians to Hinduism. These factors have led to a certain resurgence of Hinduism outside of its Balinese stronghold.

JAVANESE HINDUISM

Both Java and Sumatra were subject to considerable cultural influence from the Indian subcontinent during the first and second millennia of the comman Era. Many Hindu temples were built, including Prambanan near Yogyakarta, which has been designated a World Hertage Site; and Hindu kingdoms flourished, of which the most important was majapahit.

In the sixth and seventh centuries many maritime kingdoms arose in Sumatra and Java which controlled the waters in the straits of malacca and flourished with the increasing sea trade between China and India and beyond. During this time, scholars from India and China visited these kingdoms to translate literary and religious texts.

Majapahit was based in Central Java, from where it ruled a large part of what is now western Indonesia. The remnants of the Majapahit kingdom shifted to Bali during the sixteenth century as Muslim kingdoms in the western part of the island gained influence.

Hinduism has survived in varying degrees and forms on Java; in recent years, conversions to Hinduism have been on the rise, particularly in regions surrounding a major Hindu religious site, such as the Klaten region near the Prambanan temple. Certain ethnic groups, such as the Tenggerese and osings, are also associated with Hindu religious traditions.

HINDUISM ELSEWHERE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO

Main article:Hinduism in Sulawesi

The Bodha sect of sasak people on the island of lombok are non-Muslim; their religion is a fusion of Hinduism and Buddhism with animism; it is considered Buddhist by the government.

Among the non-Bali communities considered to be Hindu by the government are, for example, the Dayak adherents of the kaharingan religion in kalimantan tengah, where government statistics counted Hindus as 15.8 % of the population as of 1995. Nationally, Hindus represented only around 2 % of the population in the early 1990s.

Many manusela and nuaulu people of seram follow Naurus, a syncretism of Hinduism with animist and Protestant elements.

Similarly, the tana toraja of sulawesi have identified their animistic religion as Hindu.

The batak of Sumatra have identified their animist traditions with Hinduism.

HINDU HOLIDAYS IN BALI OR INDONESIA

Hari Raya Galungan

Galungan Celebrates the coming of the Gods and the ancestral spirits to earth to dwell again in the homes of the descendants. The festivities are characterized by offerings, dances and new clothes.

Hari Raya Saraswati

Saraswati Balinese Hindu belief that knowledge is an essential medium to achieve the goal of life as a human being. This day celebrates Saraswati in Bali, a special day devoted to the Goddess of learning, science and literature. Saraswati rules the intellectual and creative realm, and is the patron saint of libraries and schools. For Balinese Hindus, she is celebrated as she succeeded in taming the wandering and lustful mind of her consort, Brahma, who was preoccupied with the goddess of material existence, Shatarupa. On this day no one is allowed to read or write, and offerings are made to the lontar (palm-leaf scripts), books and shrines.

Saraswati Day is celebrated every 210-days on Saniscara Umanis Wuku Watugunung and marks the start of the new year according to the Balinese Pawukon calendar. Ceremonies and prayers are held at the temples in family compounds, villages and businesses from morning to noon. Prayers are also held in school or any other learning institution temples. Teachers and students abandon their uniforms for the day in place of bright and colourful ceremony gear, filling the island with colour! Children bring fruit and traditional cakes to school for offerings at the temple.

Hari Raya Nyepi

Nyepi is a Hindu Day of Silence or the Hindu New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar. The largest celebrations are held in Bali as well as in Balinese Hindu communities around Indonesia. On New Year's Eve the villages are cleaned, food is cooked for 2 days and in the evening as much noise is made as possible to scare away the devils. On the following day, Hindus do not leave their homes, cook or engage in any activity. Streets are deserted, and tourists are not allowed to leave hotel complexes.

Nyepi (Balinese New Year) is also determined using the Balinese calendar (see below), the eve of Nyepi falling on the night of the new moon whenever it occurs around March/April each year. Therefore, the date for Nyepi changes every year, and there is not a constant number of days difference between each Nyepi as there is for such days as Galungan and Kuningan. To find out when Nyepi falls in a given year, you will need information on the cycles of the moon for that year. Whenever the new moon falls between mid-March and mid-April, that night will be the night of great activity and exorcism island-wide, while the next day will be the day of total peace and quiet, where everything stops for a day.

IN A POLITICAL CONTEXT

While many Javanese have retained aspects of their indigenous and Hindu traditions through the centuries of Islamic influence, under the banner of 'Javanist religion' (kejawen) or a non-orthodox 'Javanese Islam' (abangan, cf. Geertz 1960), no more than a few isolated communities have consistently upheld Hinduism as the primary mark of their public identity. One of these exceptions are the people of the remote Tengger highlands (Hefner 1985, 1990) in the province of Eastern Java.

At the same time, the East Javanese branch of the government Hindu organization, PHDI, in an annual report claims the 'Hindu congregation' (Umat Hindu) of this province to have grown by 76,000 souls in this year alone.

However, there are problems in estimating the real number of Hindus which may be bigger. The rate of conversion accelerated dramatically during and after the collapse of former President suharto's authoritarian regime in 1998. Despite their local minority status the total number of Hindus in Java now exceeds that of Hindus in Bali.

1. Official Recognition

Officially identifying their religion as Hinduism was not a legal possibility for Indonesians until 1962, when it became the fifth state-recognized religion. This recognition was initially sought by Balinese religious organizations and granted for the sake of Bali, where the majority were Hindu. The largest of these organizations, Parisada Hindu Dharma Bali, changed its name to P.H.D. Indonesia (PHDI) in 1964, reflecting subsequent efforts to define Hinduism as a national rather than just a Balinese affair (Ramstedt 1998).

Religious identity became a life and death issue for many Indonesians around the same time as Hinduism gained recognition, namely in the wake of the violent anti-Communist purge of 1965-66 (Beatty 1999). Persons lacking affiliation with a state recognized-religion tended to be classed as atheists and hence as communist suspects.

Despite the inherent disadvantages of joining a national religious minority, a deep concern for the preservation of their traditional ancestor religions made Hinduism a more palatable option than Islam for several ethnic groups in the outer islands.

In the early seventies, the toraja people of sulawesi were the first to realize this opportunity by seeking shelter for their indigenous ancestor religion under the broad umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of sumatra in 1977 (Bakker 1995).

In central and southern Kalimantan, a large Hindu movement has grown among the local indigenous Dayak population which lead to a mass declaration of 'Hinduism' on this island in 1980. However, this was different to the Javanese case, in that conversions followed a clear ethnic division. Indigenous Dayak were confronted with a mostly Muslim population of government-sponsored (and predominantly Javanese) migrants and officials, and deeply resentful at the dispossession of their land and its natural resources.

Compared to their counterparts among Javanese Hindus, many dayak leaders were also more deeply concerned about Balinese efforts to standardize Hindu ritual practice nationally; fearing a decline of their own unique 'Hindu Kaharingan' traditions and renewed external domination.

By contrast, most Javanese were slow to consider Hinduism at the time, lacking a distinct organization along ethnic lines and fearing retribution from locally powerful Islamic organizations like the Nahdatul Ulama (NU). The youth wing of the NU had been active in the persecution not only of communists but of 'Javanist' or 'anti-Islamic' elements within Sukarno's Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) during the early phase of the killings (Hefner 1987). Practitioners of 'Javanist' mystical traditions thus felt compelled to declare themselves Muslims out of a growing concern for their safety.

2. Under Suharto's Rule

The initial assessment of having to abandon 'Javanist' traditions in order to survive in an imminent Islamic state proved incorrect. President Sukarno's eventual successor, Suharto, adopted a distinctly nonsectarian approach in his so-called 'new order' (orde baru) regime. Old fears resurfaced, however, with Suharto's 'Islamic turn' in the 1990s. Initially a resolute defender of Javanist values, Suharto began to make overtures to Islam at that time, in response to wavering public and military support for his government.

A powerful signal was his authorization and personal support of the new 'Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals' (ICMI), an organization whose members openly promoted the Islamization of Indonesian state and society (Hefner 1997). Concerns grew as ICMI became the dominant civilian faction in the national bureaucracy, and initiated massive programs of Islamic education and mosque-building through the Ministry of Religion (departemen agama), once again targeting Javanist strongholds. Around the same time, there were a series of mob killings by Muslim extremists of people they suspected to have been practicing traditional Javanese methods of healing by magical means.

In terms of their political affiliation, many contemporary Javanists and recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the old PNI, and have now joined the new nationalist party of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Informants from among this group portrayed their return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) as a matter of nationalist pride, and displayed a new sense political self-confidence.

Political trends aside, however, the choice between Islam and Hinduism is often a highly personal matter. Many converts reported that other members of their families have remained 'Muslims', out of conviction or in the hope that they will be free to maintain their Javanist traditions in one way or another.

IN A SOCIAL CONTEXT

A common feature among new Hindu communities in Java is that they tend to rally around recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites (candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship.

One of several new Hindu temples in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt Sumeru, Java's highest mountain. When the temple was completed in July 1992, with the generous aid of wealthy donors from bali, only a few local families formally confessed to Hinduism. A pilot study in December 1999 revealed that the local Hindu community now has grown to more than 5000 households.

Similar mass conversions have occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu polity on Java.

A further important site is Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang near Kediri), where the Hindu king and prophet Jayabaya is said to have achieved spiritual liberation (moksa).

A further Hindu movement in the earliest stages of development was observed in the vicinity of the newly completed Pura Pucak Raung (in the Eastern Javanese district of Glenmore), which is mentioned in Balinese literature as the place where the Hindu saint Maharishi Markandeya gathered followers for an expedition to Bali, whereby he is said to have brought Hinduism to the island in the fifth century AD.

An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto. The site may be the location of the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit . A local Hindu movement is struggling to gain control of a newly excavated temple building which they wish to see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small hindu kingdom of Majapahit into an empire.

A new temple is being built East of Solo (Surakarta) It is a Hindu temple that has miniatures of 50 sacred sites around the world. It is also an active kundalini yoga meditation centre teaching the sacred javanese tradition of sun and water meditation. There are many westerners as well as javanese joining in.

Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding in Central Java (Lyon 1980), for example in Klaten, near the ancient Hindu monuments of Prambanan.

IN AN ECONOMIC CONTEXT

Taking Pura Sumeru as an example, it is also important to note that major Hindu temples can bring a new prosperity to local populations. Apart from employment in the building, expansion, and repair of the temple itself, a steady stream of Balinese pilgrims to this now nationally recognized temple has led to the growth of a sizeable service industry. Ready-made offerings, accommodation, and meals are provided in an ever-lengthening row of shops and hotels along the main road leading to Pura Sumeru. At times of major ritual activity tens of thousands of visitors arrive each day. Pilgrims' often generous cash donations to the temple also find their way into the local economy.

Pondering with some envy on the secret to the economic success of their Balinese neighbors, several local informants concluded that "Hindu culture may be more conducive to the development of an international tourism industry than is Islam. Economic considerations also come into play insofar as members of this and other Hindu revival movements tend to cooperate in a variety of other ways, including private business ventures which are unrelated to their joint religious practices as such.

WILDLIFE

Bali has around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangred Bali Starling. The only endemic mammal of the island, the Bali tiger, became extinict in the 1930s. The Bali National Park is a refuge for wildlife such as the pangolin, common, muntjac, chevrotain, leopard, cat, black giant squirrel, macaque and leaf monkey.

CULTURE

Bali is famous for many forms of art, including painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese gamelan music is highly developed and varied. The dances portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, and kecak (the monkey dance).

National education programs, mass media and tourism continue to change Balinese culture. Immigration from other parts of Indonesia, especially Java, is changing the ethnic composition of Bali's population.

The Hindu new year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the preceding day large, colorful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.

LANGUANGE

Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken Languanges in Bali, and like most Indonesians, the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or tringual. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing.
English is a common third language (and the primary foreign language) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the large tourism industry. Staff working in Bali's tourist centres are often, by necessity, multilingual to some degree, speaking as many as 8 or 9 different languages to an often surprising level of competence.

ECONOMUC INDICATORS

Economic Growth : 8.86%Income per Capita : Rp. 1,090,447.49 (1990)Exports : Garments, handicrafts, furniture, canned fish, vanilla, coffee, tuna, seaweedValue of Exports : US$ 145,997,595 (1991)Primary ProductsAgriculture - Food Crops : Rice, corn, and horticultureCommercial Crops : Coconut, clove, coffee, rubber, vanilla and fruitsLivestocks : Cows, buffaloes, sheeps, goats, pigs, horses, chickens, and ducksFishery - Fish Products : Tuna, skipjack tuna, barramundi, shrimp, seaweed, giant gouromy, and common carpFresh Water Fishery Area : 841.37 haForestry-Forest Products : Cayuput oil, rattan, and incenseProductive Forest Area : 8,535.05 haHandicrafts : The Balinese are known for the outstanding wood and stone carvingEconomics and Culture Tourism is now the leading economic activity, surpassing agriculture, the traditional source of the island’s wealth. The Balinese originally thought to confine tourism to the beaches of the south coast, but they failed to reckon with the Australians and with non-Balinese Indonesians, not to mention other nationals, who flock to the island in increasing numbers. As a result, tourism now occupies somewhat less than a third of the total land area and is creeping northward. There are 110 starred hotels. The loss of sawah (irrigated land for rice cultivation) to construction is now two percent per year. Tourism is a national preoccupation. The Balinese would do nothing to jeopardize tourism, or to harm tourists, and would resent any outside attempt to interfere with tourism. For that reason many Indonesians themselves see Bali as a retreat from the political or ethnic turmoil that they experience elsewhere. There are examples of Indonesian capital parked in Bali in small enterprises and/or vacation homes that are probably considered safer investments than elsewhere in Indonesia. Much of this development is evident in the roadside construction of small shophouses (rumoko, i.e. rumah-toko) and factories, whose activities contribute to traffic congestion and whose installations obstruct the famous views of Balinese rice terraces. Except for limitations on height, a ruling that has been in effect since the Sukarno era, there are no zoning restrictions on building. Commercial activity is not confined to the arts and crafts associated with tourism but increasingly to other activity as well. Bali has become an entrepot for multi-faceted business such as furniture manufacture, in which furniture is first made in Java, finished in Bali, then shipped out from Surabaya. Agriculture is also booming, with temporary imported labor from Java to help with the rice harvest. Bali attracts this activity because it is perceived as a nice place to live, and is seen as a place of high civilization in a beautiful rural setting. But if, because of unregulated development it is no longer a nice place to live, at what point will that development turn sour? The Balinese are beginning to wonder. Decentralization is a big unknown thus far. At the moment the provincial government is in control of the distribution of tourist revenue and taxes, 40 percent of which is distributed to the poorer kebupaten. The kebupaten boundaries are still the same as the areas of the old royal kingdoms: Dan Pasar, Klungkung, Gianyar, Ubud, etc. How this will all be affected by decentralization is not yet known. Nor is it known how decentralization will affect the intricate irrigation system. In the worst case, each kebupaten will compete without restraint to capture the most tourists and the most enterprises. In the best case, the province and the center will still enforce some moderation. The Balinese strongly support President Megawati (she is one quarter Balinese) and seem to rely on her to keep a balance. In any case, Balinese culture is holding its own against rapid development. The population is 93 percent Hindu (or the Balinese version of Hinduism which has a strong basis in spirit and ancestor worship). There is a “fierce national pride and possessiveness of Balinese culture as a national asset," Pringle said, “and a traditional intolerance toward foreigners, by which is meant Javanese.” There is also some antipathy toward non-Hindu Balinese such as Christians, who have been somewhat successful in making converts in some northern villages. It is still roughly a caste society, with about 10 percent of the population in the upper castes and 90 percent in clans associated with crafts, especially smiths (goldsmiths, blacksmiths, etc). These ancient clans go back to Majapahit times and are traditionally associated with responsibility for rituals and ritual objects. Traditional culture still has considerable importance, if some recent disputes about the high caste requirements for Balinese priesthood have any significance. Performing arts are still strong and show signs of enduring. Even transmigrant Balinese show signs of preserving their culture, as some transmigrant communities in Sulawesi have ordered Balinese gamelans to be sent to them. Pringle suggested that the strength of the culture lies in part on the energy, resilience and inventiveness of the Balinese. They are quick to take pragmatic advantage of economic opportunity, even if it means compromising the rules somewhat. Signs of the times include Balinese carvers making “genuine” traditional Asmat carving from Papua; or an instant cremation service, consisting of a pickup truck and propane gas tank, offered for families of deceased who do not have the resources for a traditional (and expensive) cremation.

RELEGION

Moslems (5.22%)Protestants (0.58%)Roman Catholics (0.47%)Hindus (93.18%)Buddhists (0.55%) .

Hinduism in Bali

Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual, and is less closely preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam in Indonesia. Balinese Hinduism lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis on cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, but instead is concerned with a myriad of local and ancestral spirits. As with kebatinan, these deities are thought to be capable of harm. Balinese place great emphasis on dramatic and aesthetically satisfying acts of ritual propitiation of these spirits at temple sites scattered throughout villages and in the countryside. Each of these temples has a more or less fixed membership; every Balinese belongs to a temple by virtue of descent, residence, or some mystical revelation of affiliation. Some temples are associated with the family house compound, others are associated with rice fields, and still others with key geographic sites. Ritualized states of self-control (or lack thereof) are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behavior. One key ceremony at a village temple, for instance, features a special performance of a dance-drama (a battle between the mythical characters Rangda the witch (representing evil) and Barong the lion or dragon (representing good)), in which performers fall into a trance and attempt to stab themselves with sharp knives.

Rituals of the life cycle are also important occasions for religious expression and artistic display. Ceremonies at puberty, marriage, and, most notably, cremation at death provide opportunities for Balinese to communicate their ideas about community, status, and the afterlife. (The tourist industry has not only supported spectacular cremation ceremonies among Balinese of modest means, but also has created a greater demand for them.)

A priest is not affiliated with any temple but acts as a spiritual leader and adviser to individual families in various villages scattered over the island. These priests are consulted when ceremonies requiring holy water are conducted. On other occasions, folk healers or curers may be hired.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIAONS

The province is divided into 8 regincies (kabupaten) and 1 city (kota) :

1. Badung
2. Bangli
3. Buleleng
4. Denpasar (city)
5. Gianyar
6. Jembrana
7. Karangasem
8. Klungkung
9. Tabanan

DENPASAR

Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali,Indonesia. It is also the site of Ngurah Rai Airport, the main gateway to Bali. It has a population of 491,500 (2002). It is located at 8°39′S, 115°13′E.

Tourism

Denpasar has various attractions. The white sandy beaches are famous all over the world. Some of the famous surfing beaches are Kuta Beach, Legian Beach and Canggu Beach. Sanur beach has calmer waters and is excellent for sunbathing.Ten minutes from the Nurah Rai International Airport lies the town of Kuta. Kuta is where most of the hotels, restaurants, malls, cafes, marketplaces, and spas that cater to tourists are located. In the Denpasar area, all kinds of beautiful Balinese handicrafts are represented in local shops. These include artwork, pottery, textiles, and silver. Bali is a haven for shoppers everywhere.The famous batik cloth is sold all over Denpasar. These bright sheets of cloth are as beautiful as they are cheap. Made of pure cotton with glorious patterns, Balinese batik is definitely a good buy. Sometimes batik cloth is made into wearable clothing such as a sarong or men's shirts. The jewelry district is in a town called Celup which is 30 minutes away from Kuta. Here you will find rows and rows of silversmiths' and goldsmiths' shops selling jewelery at very low prices.

GIANYAR

Gianyar is an art and cultural town, has been well known throughout the word. Apart from proliferation of its archeological remains, in recent development, Gianyar looks so fascinating with the establishment of gardens and statues of Gods and demons along its street or at every road intersection. It is really worth seeing, because all the art works erected in this town are master pieces of Gianyar's artists, those are inspired by a single source called " Paramayoga " Hindu legend or " Purana Dewa " in mount Tengguru, that tells us about the cooperation between Gods ( Sura ) and demons ( Asura ) in their succesful effort to turn or stir fast mount Mandara, searching for elixir water or water for eternal life, which is finally ended with the change of cooperation into a war disputing the elixir ownership.

Gianyar regency constitutes an agricultural region with its beautiful nature panorama, that it's why many kinds of agricultural plantation can be developed in this region. Additionally, Gianyar Regency is rich with ancient remains and famous for high creativity of its people in field of art and culture, which considered as one of invaluable asset to the region.

With this high potential, in reality nowadays, Gianyar has grown rapidly in tourism, which is the result of the richness of the nature, traditional culture heritage as well as modern one.

Having this reality we realize there is possibility of emerging negative impacts towards the progress of Gianyar Regency globally, somehow, by understanding strong concepts of Hindu religion it is expected these impacts can be filtered, that local culture and foreign one can acculturate to each other positively and naturally.

Finally to all parties, especially those entrepreneurs are involved in tourism, we are expecting their participation to keep and develop tourism positively, that the tourism and Balinese culture which had has high value more well known and praised in the world

Last but not least, we hope this booklet will be useful for all of us.