Canang Sari, daily of Balinese ritual

An offering is something tangible, presented to appease the Gods in times of prayer. Philosophically, an offering is a sort of self sacrifice. One spends a significant amount of time and money in making an offering, putting something of oneself into it.

The most common form of offering that is seen everywhere in Bali on a daily basis is known as canang. Canang Sari is simplest daily household offering. Canang Sari usualy offer in temple, family temple, cross road, house, sacred statue, shop or other place that balinese belief sacred. It placed in shrines and strategic locations of importance with a waft from a stick of incense and sprinkle of holy water. Shop keepers place this kind of flower offering in front of their stall upon opening up for trade and taxi drivers invariably have one on the dashboard of their vehicle.

Canang sari is one of daily balinese hindus people offerings made to thank the gods in praise and pray. you will see this offerings in the temples, on small shrines in houses, and on the ground or as a part of a large offering.

The phrase canang sari is derived from the words "sari", essence and "Canang", a small square of coconut-leaf basket decorated with a combination of colorful flowers. Canang Sari is completed by placing on top of the canang an amount of money "kepeng", which is said to make up the essence of the offering. Canang Sari is made from young yellow palm leafs, flowers and food stuff an art form assosiated with every ritual in Bali. Balinese believe in the forces of the invisible worlds dictates that offerings be created with a spirit of thankfulness and loving attention to detail.

In many rural villages around Bali canang offerings are still made by obtaining the raw components from within the family compound. However, today in urban areas canang can easily be bought from vendors at a traditional marketplace. This is a thriving home industry for many Balinese women who have recognized that some households are simply too busy to make their own daily offerings.

Another simple Balinese offering called saiban is performed every morning once the family food has been prepared. Small portions of leaf are placed on a tray and topped with a sprinkle of salt, a few grains of rice and some shredded coconut (or a tiny piece of the food that has just been cooked). This is then placed in the family shrine and presented to God in appreciation for the food that is about to be consumed.

Balinese always offering Canang Sari every day, except there are some one death around village. Canang sari offered to say thankfullness to the God (Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa), for what we get in our life.

Even as the island succumbs to a modern way of life, the art of making the most common form of offerings is still something that almost any young Balinese girl is able to do. This is an inherited practice, along with the duty to take care of the family shrine, which has been passed down through the generations.

Balinese Metatah/ Mapandes Ritual

Tooth Filing is belonging to the Manusa Yadnya (ceremony for humans). Called ‘Mapandes’ in High Balinese, ‘Metatah’ in Common Balinese. The reason for filing is to control evil human characteristics (Sad Ripu). Those six evil human characteristics are: Kama (uncontrollable desire); loba (greed, always want to get more); krodha (unmanageable anger); mada (intoxication that brings dark thoughts);moha (confusion that lead to someone unable to finish tasks perfectly); matsarya (jealousy that caused hostility). This important life-cycle event usually occurs when a Balinese boy or girl reaches puberty-at a girl’s first menstruation, when a boy’s voice changes. If not then, it must definitely take place before marriage; sometimes Tooth Filing is incorporated into the marriage ceremony.

After Tooth Filing, a father’s duties to his female children are generally regarded as complete. Before a cremation the teeth of a cadaver may be filed. Why? Pointed teeth are likened to those of ferocious witches, demons, wild animals, savages, or, almost as bad, dogs. A person’s canine teeth, regarded by the Balinese as animalistic fangs (Caling), are filed flat so the child may become fully human, able to reign in the emotions.

It’s believed a Balinese may be denied entrance into heaven if the teeth are not filed because s/he might be mistaken for a wild creature. In the old days the teeth of adolescents were also blackened with betel nut to distinguish them from the white teeth of animals. ‘Mapandes‘ is a costly affair; invitations must be issued, musicians are hired, the fee of the ‘Pedanda’ is paid, elaborate offerings are carried out, and a banquet is prepared for guests and villagers.

Because of the great expense, it may be delayed until enough money has been saved. A number of families may participate in a mass tooth filing in order to share costs, or it may be held simultaneously with some other costly ceremony such as a cremation or wedding. The ‘Banjar’ often determines that financial help should be extended to the lower castes to enable them to participate. To view the maximum pomp and ritual, attend a Tooth Filing ceremony sponsored by a Brahman family, where as many as 14 people may participate and expenses could top IDR 35 million.

Tooth filing represents the evening out of the extreme and ‘Kasar’ (rough) aspects of one’s personality as one enters adulthood. Tooth filing also adds the person of the six evil animal passions that Balinese believe everyone possesses to some degree: laziness (alus), love of sensual pleasures (raga), love of luxury and splendor (dewasa), love of worldly goods (tresna), in difference (indra), and resoluteness (baja). Though representatives from each caste are in the tooth filing ceremony, a girl of the lower caste will be asked to lie on a platform at a lower level than her upper-caste sisters, and she wears less lavish ceremonial clothing.

The most important event of adolescence, Balinese endure it with not a sound of complaint. After the filing, youths of all castes can go on to lead healthy, well-adjusted lives as a part of Ball’s tightly knit family, clan, community and society. Tooth Filing is scheduled on an auspicious day and performed by a specialist Brahman priest on a special platform. For the occasion makeshift bamboo shrines with gay, colorful offerings of rice, sweet cakes, flowers, and fruits are erected within the compound.

All attendees dress in traditional clothing and the customary white cardboard box of snacks and bottle of sweetened tea is handed to all that enter. Having spent the previous two or three nights praying while confined in bale built for the occasion within the high-caste family’s compound, from two to 100 initiates are assembled, dressed in white and yellow to signify holiness. Girls wear precious ‘kemben’ (breast cloth), the finest the family can afford, with garments as ornate as those of legong dancers.

Boys wear a ‘songket’ from the armpits to the knees, a ‘keris’ protruding from a yellow sash in the back. The ceremony begins with the ‘pedanda’ sprinkling holy water and blessing the group with mantras. Offerings are placed before the gods of sexual love. The initiates lie down on the richly draped bamboo platform wide-eyed and frightened, clutching their pillows as close relatives ring around. Incense is lit, mouthwash placed at the ready, files and whetstones blessed to cleanse them and render the operation painless.

Magic symbols (aksara) are inscribed on the teeth. The “dentist” (sangging) first places a small cylinder of sugarcane in the corners of the mouth to prop the jaws open and prevent gagging. The front two upper canines are filed so they’re even with the upper incisors; it’s important to affect an even line of short teeth. The actual filing requires about five to 10 minutes. A mirror is provided to allow the patient to observe the progress of the ritual. Filings are spit into a yellow coconut.

Tears may roll down their cheeks, but the files seldom cry out. Sometimes members of the family sing a ‘kekawin’ about Arjuna, the brave young hero of the Mahabharata epic, to bolster the spirits of their loved ones, someone else may recite Kawi translated into vernacular Balinese. To lighten the atmosphere, the ‘sangging’ may joke with the file as he files. After consulting with his girlfriend, wife, or mother, a boy may decide he still possesses too much animalist and lie back down on the bed for more filing. Occasionally, there are requests for just a few token, symbolic strokes of the file.

When Tooth Filing is finished, the astringent betel pepper leaf (base) is rubbed on the ends of the teeth, and then the ‘pedanda’ places various other soothing, healing tinctures on the end of the initiate’s tongues. The coconut shell receptacle of filing debris and saliva is then buried behind the ancestral shrine lest it be occupied by evil spirits.

Ling Gwan Kiong, Chinese temple in Singaraja, Bali

If you are going to the old town of Singaraja, close by the Buleleng port, you will find a magnificent Chinese temple Ling Gwan Kiong. Among the local people this place is known as Klenteng. Ling Gwan Kiong is a colorful and beautifully constructed Klenteng; access to the temple is via a water bridge over a pond filled with pink and white lotus flowers. As usual, Klenteng is dominated of red and gold color. Gold Buddha statues and ornamentally decorated textiles are found everywhere.

Particularly impressive are the murals of Deities hand-painted on the entrance doors and surrounding walls.

This Klenteng is considered to be an old and sacred Klenteng, it was built in 1873. From prasasti or old manuscripts that are found on Tao Kong Co Tan Hu Cin statue and there is lettering of Ling Yuen Kong written in Chinese that proves this temple was built in the 12th Thoing Ce year from the Dynasty of Ching (Man Ching).

The name of Ling Gwan Kiong means Istana Sumber Sakti or Palace of Power. Over one hundred years ago this temple has been used as a holy place for Chinese who follow Buddhist Tridharma, especially for Chinese people who live in Singaraja. This temple had been renovated several times, the biggest renovation was in 1970, and the last in 2004. 

If you are interested please come to klenteng Ling Gwan Kiong on Jl Erlangga 63.

Here's more pictures and interesting information that you can get when you're visiting Ling Gwan Kiong. :)

The old city of Singaraja, opposite the Chinese temple

About to enter the temple

The worship places

A little offering at one of the gate inside the temple are - a blending of culture

The baby turtles was taking a bath inside the temple, what a cute thing! :)

10 Reason Why You Should Come To Bali

Bali has so many things going for it. You will be booking your Hotel Horison Seminyak Bali in a flash, once you have considered the following 10 great reasons to visit Bali:

1. Beautiful Natural Landscapes
Not only are Bali’s natural landscapes extremely beautiful, there’s also a great variety, from beautiful beaches, active volcanoes, lush rice terraces to national parks and rainforests.

2. Pleasant Warm Climate All Year Round
Many of us live in regions that can become a tad cool during parts of the year. For those yearning for a little more warmth, look no further. With Bali sitting close to the Equator, temperatures around thirty degrees last the whole year. The wet season from October to March is no exception, with rain showers likely to pass quickly, leaving the natural setting all the more green and lush.

3. Hindu Culture and Ceremonies
The Balinese take their Hindu ceremonies seriously. It is common to see locals dressed up beautifully, heading to a temple for one of the rites of passage. Around the end of March and start of April, you may be fortunate enough to experience Nyepi day. A loud exorcism of Demons, using Ogoh-Ogoh (homemade puppet monsters) on the preceding day is followed by a day of silence, when all Hindu followers stay home, with all lights, radios and TVs turned off.

4. Surfing
Head down to the “Bukit” Peninsula – not only does it have the nicest white sand beaches in Bali, but also some of the best surf. Then again, you could always just amble down from your hotel in Kuta to surf some decent nearby breaks.

5. Wildlife
Visit a monkey forest, and you will certainly get a chance for a close up look. Ok, the monkeys are somewhat domesticated, so it’s debatable as to whether they are “wild” – just don’t tease them with that banana in your hand, or they may become so! Head to Bali Barat National Park to trek and spot other somewhat less tame fauna.

6. Great Shopping
Bali is home to sometimes whole towns of skilled craftsmen. Appreciate their ability as you shop for local handicrafts, jewellery or maybe some tailored clothing. When you come to Bali, just remember to also bring your bargaining skills.

7. Local Cuisine
Could you resist the enticing scent, as the aroma of satay skewers wafts your way from a streetside stall owner? Tasty Indonesian staples of nasi goreng and mie goreng are complemented by Balinese dishes like Babi Guling (suckling pig). With Bali being an island, sumptuous local seafood also abounds. Finish off by trying some of the abundant tropical fruits like mangosteens, starfruit, jackfruit, rambutans or mangoes.

8. Adventure Activities
For a thrill a minute, one can try white water rafting, or quad biking. Jungle treks, cycling tours through traditional villages and elephant rides will also keep you moving. For a more subdued, serene appreciation, a cruise may be appropriate, or a view of underwater tropical fish and coral in an actual submarine!

9. Massages
Treat yourself – you’ve earned it! What better way to unwind than to have your muscles soothed of the day’s rigorous activities. With local prices very reasonable compared to the west, you will already be planning your next visit as the masseuse’s magic hands allow you to drift into a contented and dreamlike state.

10. Great Value For Money
Bali’s hotels are very reasonably priced. Local food, shopping and transport is some of the cheapest, not just in Asia, but the world. So not only will you have a great holiday, you’ll also get unparalleled bang for your buck!

You will be pleased with the facilities Horison Seminyak can offer, the perfect base from which to explore and appreciate these ten features of an amazing Bali holiday.

Newly 4 Stars Leisure Hotel In Seminyak Bali

Horison Seminyak has a brilliant location for enjoying all of the leisure activities which Kuta , Legian and Seminyak are renowned for. With total of 154 rooms including Suites to choose from , providing a complete array of leisure facilities for every guest’s needs, including outdoor pool with sunbeds, restaurant, trour programs, it is strategically located just 15 minutes drive from Ngurah Rai Airport. Lies in in the centre of Seminyak , you are 5 minutes walk to the famous Double Six beach with its gentle waves, expanses of sand and magical sunsets. At your doorstep are eating options from open air cafes to fine dining, and when shopping takes your fancy just walk to the area's famous boutiques and bargain centres. In the evenings, some of Bali's best bars and clubs are a stone's throw away.

Below are some great hot spots which our mutual guest may benefits from our prime location:

• 24 hours Convenient Store : 1 minute walking to M-Mart and 15 minutes walking to Bintang Supermarket
• Best Bargain : 5 minutes walking to retails, boutiques and factory outlets
• Seminyak Must Visit : 10 minutes by taxi to KuDeTa , Potato Head, Warung Made
• Beach : 5 minutes walking to 66 beach for the spectacular sunset
• Affordable Restaurant : 2 minutes walking to Marsimo, 5 minutes walking to Lanai, Tekor, de Javu
• Night Entertainment : 10 minutes by taxi HU U bar, WOO bar, Living Room
• Night Club : 15 minutes taxi to SKY Bar , BOSHE , BOUNTY and MBARGO

For more information please visit our official website:  Horison Seminyak