Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called kendhang/Kendang, which register the beat. The kemanak and gangsa are commonly used gamelan instruments in Bali. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed instrument called a rebab, a zither-like instrument siter and vocalists named sindhen (Female) or gerong (Male).
Balinese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by 3.3 million people on the Indonesian island of Bali as well as Northern Nusa Penida, Western Lombok, Eastern Java, Southern Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Most Balinese speakers also know Indonesian. The Bali Cultural Agency estimated in 2011 that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives on the Bali Island is under 1 million. The language has been classified as "not endangered" by Glottolog.
Kecak, known in Indonesian as tari kecakilolahhe, is a form of Balinese Hindu dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s in Bali, Indonesia. Since its creation, it has been performed primarily by men, with the first women's kecak group having started in 2006. The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana and is traditionally performed in temples and villages across Bali.
Balinese Hinduism is the form of Hinduism practiced by the majority of the population of Bali. This is particularly associated with the Balinese people residing on the island, and represents a distinct form of Hindu worship incorporating local animism, ancestor worship or Pitru Paksha.
The kris or keris in the Indonesian and Malay languages, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (pamor). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although many have straight blades as well, and is one of the weapons commonly used in the pencak silat martial art native to Indonesia, Malaysia, & Brunei.
A golok is a cutting tool, similar to a machete, that comes in many variations and is found throughout the Malay archipelago. It is used as an agricultural tool as well as a weapon. The word golok is used in Indonesia and Malaysia and in the Philippines. Both in Malaysia and in Indonesia, the term is usually interchangeable with the longer and broader parang. In the Sundanese region of West Java it is known as bedog.
Hinduism in Indonesia, as of the 2018 census, is practised by about 1.74% of the total population, and almost 87% of the population in Bali. Hinduism is one of the six official religions of Indonesia. Hinduism came to Indonesia in the 1st-century through traders, sailors, scholars and priests. A syncretic fusion of pre-existing Javanese folk religion, culture and Hindu ideas, that from the 6th-century also synthesized Buddhist ideas as well, evolved as the Indonesian version of Hinduism. These ideas continued to develop during the Srivijaya and Majapahit empires. About 1400 CE, these kingdoms were introduced to Islam from coast-based Muslim traders, and thereafter Hinduism mostly vanished from many of the islands of Indonesia.
Galungan is a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of dharma over adharma. It marks the time when the ancestral spirits visit the Earth. The last day of the celebration is Kuningan, when they return. The date is calculated according to the 210-day Balinese Pawukon calendar. It is related to Pitri Paksha, celebrated by Hindus in other parts of the world, which also celebrates the visiting of ancestral spirits.
Balinese dance is an ancient dance tradition that is part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people of Bali island, Indonesia. Balinese dance is dynamic, angular and intensely expressive. Balinese dancers express the stories of dance-drama through the bodily gestures including gestures of fingers, hands, head and eyes.
Balinese art is art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 14th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kamasan, Klungkung, was the centre of classical Balinese art. During the first part of the twentieth century, new varieties of Balinese art developed. Since the late twentieth century, Ubud and its neighboring villages established a reputation as the center of Balinese art.
Acintya, also known as Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa and Sang Hyang Tunggal, is the Supreme God of Indonesian Hinduism, especially on the island of Bali. Acintya is equivalent to the metaphysical concept of Brahman of Indian Hinduism, and is the Supreme God in traditional wayang theatre. All gods, goddesses and existence are believed to be the manifestation of the Acintya in Balinese Hinduism.
The Balinese saka calendar is one of two calendars used on the Indonesian island of Bali. Unlike the 210-day pawukon calendar, it is based on the phases of the Moon, and is approximately the same length as the tropical year.
Balinese textiles are reflective of the historical traditions of Bali. Bali has been historically linked to the major courts of Java before the 10th century; and following the defeat of the Majapahit kingdom, many of the Javanese aristocracy fled to Bali and the traditions were continued. Bali therefore may be seen as a repository not only of its own arts but those of Java in the pre-Islamic 15th century. Any attempt to definitively describe Balinese textiles and their use is doomed to be incomplete. The use of textile is a living tradition and so is in constant change. It will also vary from one district to another. For the most part old cloth are not venerated for their age. New is much better. In the tropics cloth rapidly deteriorates and so virtue is generated by replacing them.
Balinese cuisine is a cuisine tradition of Balinese people from the volcanic island of Bali. Using a variety of spices, blended with the fresh vegetables, meat and fish. Part of Indonesian cuisine, it demonstrates indigenous traditions, as well as influences from other Indonesian regional cuisine, Chinese and Indian. The island's inhabitants are predominantly Hindu and culinary traditions are somewhat distinct with the rest of Indonesia, with festivals and religious celebrations including many special foods prepared as the offerings for the deities, as well as other dishes consumed communally during the celebrations.
It is quite difficult to define Indonesian art, since the country is immensely diverse. The sprawling archipelago nation consists of 17.000 islands. Around 922 of those permanently inhabited, by over 1,300 ethnic groups, which speak more than 700 living languages.
A wantilan is a Balinese pavilion (bale) used for activities involving large crowds. A wantilan is the largest type of bale in Balinese architecture. A wantilan is basically a large wall-less hall placed under a large multi-tiered roof. A wantilan as a public building is usually located at a village's main square or main junction and functions as an open hall to hold large community activities such as meeting halls or a public musical gamelan performance. A wantilan is also a religious building, an integral part of Balinese temples used to hold the Balinese cockfighting ceremony.
A Meru tower or pelinggih meru is the principal shrine of a Balinese temple. It is a wooden, pagoda-like structure with a masonry base, a wooden chamber and multi-tiered thatched roofs. The height of Meru towers represent the Hindu Mount Meru. Meru towers are usually dedicated to either the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon, the local pantheon, or a deified person.
In a Balinese temple architecture, a Bhoma (Shubhanshu) is a carved or formed grotesque which decorates certain parts in the Balinese temple complex. The statue is similar to the Javanese Kala, and was intended to protect the temple complex from malevolent spirits.
Cash coins were introduced by the Chinese based on their imperial coinage to what is today called Indonesia during the Tang dynasty era in China when they were introduced by traders, but they didn't become popular with the local population until the 13th century during the reign the Majapahit empire in the archipelago. Chinese cash coins continued to circulate in the archipelago for centuries, when the Ming dynasty banned trade with the region many local rulers started creating their own imitations of Chinese cash coins which were often thinner and of inferior quality. Cash coins produced in Indonesia were made from various materials such as copper-alloys, lead, and most commonly tin.
The art produced in Southeast Asia includes the art from eleven countries that form Southeast Asia. The cultural development of the area was historically dominated by Indian influence, though several cohesive traits exist before Indian influence. The art is inspired by many different countries around the world.
