The Balinese script, natively known as Aksara Bali and Hanacaraka, is an alphabet used in the island of Bali, Indonesia, commonly for writing the Austronesian Balinese language, Old Javanese, and the liturgical language Sanskrit. With some modifications, the script is also used to write the Sasak language, used in the neighboring island of Lombok. The script is a descendant of the Brahmi script, and so has many similarities with the modern scripts of South and Southeast Asia. The Balinese script, along with the Javanese script, is considered the most elaborate and ornate among Brahmic scripts of Southeast Asia.
Balinese, or simply Bali, 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 and eastern Java. Most Balinese speakers also know Indonesian. Balinese itself is not mutually intelligible with Indonesian but may be understood by Javanese speakers after some exposure.
The Balinese people are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok and in the easternmost regions of Java.
Hinduism in Indonesia is practised by 1.7% of the total population, and by 83.5% of the population in Bali as of the 2010 census. 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 culture and Hindu ideas, that from the 6th-century 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 attacked from coast-based Muslim armies, and thereafter Hinduism mostly vanished from many of the islands of Indonesia. In 2010, there were an estimated total of over 4 million Hindus in Indonesia according to Indonesian census. The Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia disputed the census methodology, and estimated 18 million Hindus lived in Indonesia in 2005. In 2010, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Government of Indonesia estimated that about 10 million Hindus lived on Indonesian islands, in contrast to the Indonesian official decadal census of over 4 million. The Bali island in Indonesia has a Hindu majority and the largest number of Hindus living in Indonesia.
Subak is the water management (irrigation) system for paddy fields on Bali island, Indonesia which was developed in the 9th century. For the Balinese, irrigation is not simply providing water for the plant's roots, but water is used to construct a complex, pulsed artificial ecosystem. The system consists of five terraced rice fields and water temples covering nearly 20,000 hectares. The temples are the main focus of this cooperative water management, known as subak.
In Hindu mythology, the Danavas were a race descending from Daksha.
Ida Bagus Made Togog (1913–1989) was born into a noble Brahmana clan in the center of Batuan. Together with I Ngendon, he was one of the foremost painters from Batuan. Unlike Ngendon, Togog was not particularly interested in Western ideas. He was comfortable with the Balinese way of life and adhered closely to the Balinese belief system. As a member of the high priest family, Togog was very familiar with Balinese lontar and Balinese myths and folklore. His works were primarily drawn from religion and local myths from an insider's view point and he narrates them through his drawings, just like in the Wayang tradition. The strength of his drawings was neither his draftsmanship nor composition, but his narration of complex religious beliefs and the united life in Bali as a balance between the macrocosm and microcosm, between the benevolent and good spirits.
According to Wim Bakker, it was the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet, who inspired him to translate images in Balinese lontars into drawings.
During 1936 to 1938, he was befriended by Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead and produced 83 paintings for them. As Bateson and Mead went to Bali to do research on Balinese character, they requested Togog to give an expression of his dreams. He produced a large number of drawings on dreams and his own interpretation in the context of Balinese beliefs as he understood it.
Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, or Pura Bratan, is a major Shaivite water temple on Bali, Indonesia. The temple complex is located on the shores of Lake Bratan in the mountains near Bedugul. Water temples serve the entire region in the outflow area; downstream there are many smaller water temples that are specific to each irrigation association (subak).
Pura Ulun Danu Batur is a Hindu Balinese temple located in the island of Bali, Indonesia. As one of the Pura Kahyangan Jagat, Pura Ulun Danu Batur is one of the most important temples in Bali which acted as the maintainer of harmony and stability of the entire island. Pura Ulun Danu Batur represents the direction of North and is dedicated to the god Vishnu and the local goddess Dewi Danu, goddess of Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali. Following the destruction of the original temple compound, the temple was relocated and rebuilt in 1926.
Tirta Empul temple is a Hindu Balinese water temple located near the town of Tampaksiring, Bali, Indonesia. The temple compound consists of a petirtaan or bathing structure, famous for its holy spring water, where Balinese Hindus go to for ritual purification. The temple pond has a spring which gives out fresh water regularly, which Balinese Hindus consider to be holy or amritha. Tirta Empul means Holy Spring in Balinese.
A pura is a Balinese Hindu temple. and the place of worship for the adherents of Balinese Hinduism in Indonesia. Puras are built in accordance to rules, style, guidance and rituals found in Balinese architecture. Most of the puras are found on the island of Bali, as Hinduism is the predominant religion on it; however many puras exist in other parts of Indonesia where there are significant numbers of Balinese people. Mother Temple of Besakih is the most important, the largest and holiest temple in Bali. A large number of puras have been built in Bali, leading it to be titled "the Island of a Thousand Puras".
Karangasem Regency is a regency (kabupaten) of Bali, Indonesia. It covers the east part of Bali, has an area of 839.54 km2 and a population of 369,320 (2002). Its regency seat is Amlapura. Karangasem was devastated when Mount Agung erupted in 1963, killing 1,900 people. Karangasem was a kingdom before Bali was conquered by the Dutch.
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.
Tri Hita Karana is a traditional philosophy for life on the island of Bali, Indonesia. The literal translation is roughly the "three causes of well-being" or "three reasons for prosperity."
Lake Tamblingan is a caldera lake located in Buleleng Regency, Bali. The lake is located at the foot of Mount Lesung in Munduk administrative village, Banjar subdistrict, Buleleng Regency, Bali, Indonesia. The lake is one of the three lakes that formed inside an ancient caldera, the other lakes to the east of Lake Tamblingan are Lake Buyan and Lake Bratan. Tamblingan lake is a pristine lake surrounded with dense rainforest and archaeological remnants of the 10th-century Tamblingan civilization. The lake and the surrounding settlements is designated as a spiritual tourism area protected from modern development by the government.
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.
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.
