The magical Bali

To me, the mention of the word Indonesia brings waves of nostalgia. It reminds me of the interesting anecdotes, photographs, Balinese music audio-cassettes including of the Indonesian Ramayana and little souvenirs from the country that my father brought back when I was a college student.

So, travelling to Indonesia last week, I already knew some of the history of this beautiful country. And also of Bali, which is a province and island of Indonesia and the place we were going to stay. Thanks to its status as Indonesia's biggest tourist attraction, Bali is widely known around the world. Interestingly, Bali is more widely known than Indonesia itself!

Bali is often described as the Indonesian paradise. There are reasons for that. It has a wealth of art and culture with impressive traditions of sculpture, paintings dance and music; famous religious sites including some amazing temples; scenic stretches of paddy fields; picturesque beaches and coral reefs.

The island is part of the Coral Triangle which has a very high biodiversity of marine species. This Triangle is often called the global centre of marine biodiversity and the Amazon of the seas. Over 500 reef-building coral species can be found in this area! Diving and snorkelling are big in Bali, especially in Nusa Penida.

Bali also lays claim to the title of Asia's surfing capital. You will see many surfing enthusiasts at Kuta Beach, Canggu Beach, Keramas and Uluwata. White river-rafting in Ayung and Telaga Waja rivers is also popular with tourists— we tried that too and found the experience exhilarating. However, the long and steep climb to and then up again from the rafting site were a bit of a dampener for me.

Before I left for Bali, a lot of information came from articles I quickly read about this island. To complete my briefing were two co-travellers on my Tiger Airways flight— who were talking constantly about Bali! They were a married couple, business partners and this was their ninth visit. They told me of some extra fun that can be thrown in when Indian travellers go to Bali via Singapore. They said they often travelled to Bali on work via Singapore. Our group too was using this route as many Indians do. This couple told us they use Tiger Connect because its airport-transfer feature offers ease for the passenger’s onward journey without the need to clear arrival immigration and retrieve luggage or obtain a travel visa for Singapore. "This is a big relief," they said. "So, at Singapore Changi Airport, we go around enjoying the widely admired shopping here and even watch a cinema which is free of cost." That sounded interesting for a movie lover like me. And then they gave me more valuable information. "Best of all, thanks to Tiger Connect and the fact that we have about five hours in waiting, we also took the free-of-cost two and half hour sightseeing tour of Singapore in a bus offered by the airport. There is a Colonial Tour or Cultural Tour to choose from. We take one of them on every trip. With Tiger Plus, we can even go and relax at Changi's premium lounge."

Tradition

The first day was all about temples. Bali is known for its plethora of temples— there are thousands of them! After all, this is a Hindu majority province. Most homes have their own private temples, while the more affluent build, in addition, temples for the public. The Ramayana and Mahabharata and all their main characters are all widely known here as are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva including their respective consorts. Even on roads, at traffic junctions, we saw enormous statues of Rama, Hanuman, Ghatothkacha, Arjuna, etc. We saw images of female deities, which were identified to us as Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Durga.

Temples

We started off our Bali tour with temple-hopping. The first was Bali's iconic religious site — Tanah Lot Temple. Its unique offshore setting, the large rocky arch, sea waves constantly crashing the temple, the legends of the snake gods...are all an essential part of the Bali experience. While this stunning centuries-old Hindu shrine is perched atop a rocky outcrop and towering over the sea, there are small shrines on the onshore area.

Another holy place—perhaps the holiest for the Hindus in Bali—is the ancient Besakih Temple or ‘Mother Temple' located on the slopes of Mount Agung. The temple complex has many small and big shrines including the main one known as Pura Penataran Agung (the Great Temple of State). Besakih enjoys a scenic backdrop and witnesses many ceremonies.

Taman Ayun is a royal public temple within lovely, well-landscaped park and the site is maintained by the descendants of the Mengwi royal family. Uluwatu is a beautiful seaside temple located on a cliff. There is Tirta Empul, said to have been created by Lord Indra and celebrated for its holy springs. The devout come here for a dip in the sacred waters. Luhur Lempuyang is one of Bali's nine directional temples which protect Balinese from evil spirits. Shiva and Ganesha are worshipped in Goa Gajah temple, which also has significance for Buddhists.

Art and Culture

There is such trove of wealth of art and craft in and around Ubud that an art-lover will need weeks to explore this area. In Ubud and for a few miles around, you will find roads lined by countless stores and workshops where amazing paintings, small handicrafts, stone-work, etc, are made, exhibited and sold. Ubud Art Market is a treasure house of things which are mostly typically Balinese. Located near the Saren Palace, it showcases an astonishing variety of beautiful ethnic goods—sarongs, kites, stoles and scarves, handmade woven bags, batik work of all kinds, baskets, figurines, miniatures, musical instruments, handmade woven bags, etc. The Royal Ubud Palace aka Puri Saren too is a must-see.

The scenic beaches of Kuta, Nusa Dua, Geger and Seminyak draw thousands of visitors every year. Balangan Beach is considered one of Bali's most picturesque beaches. It is also a playground for surfing and other water sports are secondary here. Almost all beaches are dotted with big and small restaurants offering traditional Balinese cuisine. Bali's sunsets are breathtakingly beautiful, and many events are held around this time of the day for this reason.

We gave the nature reserve Ubud Monkey Forest aka Sacred Monkey Forest a miss because of the paucity of time, as also the dolphin sighting at Lovina.

Dance and Music

Balinese dances and dance-dramas can be very enchanting. The dancers and/or actors are graceful, and their dresses, masks and other accessories (like the fans) are very exotic-looking. The music is melodious and their musical instruments are also something to be seen. Bali has many dance-forms and styles and some of these performing arts are interwoven with their religious beliefs. So, episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata are popular in dance. The Sanghyang Dedari is a sacred ritual dance which invokes spirits and sends the artist into a trance. Joged is more for entertainment and social events while Pendet is a welcome or greeting dance. Performances of Barong and Legong (danced by virgin girls) are frequent.

Bali has much more to offer than what we saw. More experiences than we could fit into four days. Hopefully, there will be another time.

Aruna Chandaraju