Changing times bring color and beauty to religious festival

Kadek Suartaya, Contributor, Gianyar

Hundreds of young women paraded from Sukawati village in Gianyar to a nearby sacred spring carrying colorful offerings and other ritual paraphernalia.

The village girls looked extremely attractive in their best traditional costumes, with the glittering gold-thread songket cloth tightly wrapped around their slim bodies leaving long tails like wedding attire.

Their angelic faces were made up with white and pink powder, and eyes accentuated with dark eyeliner, looking like Balinese dancers. Their heads were fully decorated with fresh flowers, gold accessories and jewelry.

The long procession of beautiful young women was part of the village's biggest temple festivities held from May 3 through May 6. Opened by a group of flag carriers, held by hundreds of young men clad in white and yellow, the procession was aimed at taking holy water from the springs to be sprinkled throughout the village to purify the ground, the air and the entire village area.

It took about three hours to walk from the temple to the spring. It indeed caused serious traffic jams since Sukawati is one of the important tourist villages on Bali. Hundreds or maybe thousands of visitors come to the village daily to buy handicrafts.

But many foreign as well as domestic tourists really enjoy this event.

This is one of the significant religious activities where people can learn how Balinese women wear their traditional costumes.

Generally, Balinese traditional costumes are divided into categories depending on the occasion, social status and other considerations. Busana Agung, lavish and intricate attire is usually worn by noble families during important occasions such as wedding ceremonies, tooth filing ceremonies and other significant rituals.

Busana Madya, middle-level costumes for less important events and a blend of modern-traditional dresses.

Each regency has its own style but many of them have similarities. As times change, many people now "violate" tradition by wearing costumes outside their original function.

At the Ngurah Rai International Airport, for instance, you can see many young girls clad in Busana Agung to welcome foreign guests. At some hotels, young girls and men also wear Busana Agung to greet hotel guests.

The once rare and almost sacred Busana Agung has been worn in many profane get-togethers.

Money can buy everything and social changes have allowed the nouveau rich to procure expensive songket and other textiles previously owned by nobility.

For the Balinese, textiles or wastra, the major element in Balinese traditional costume, possess rich symbolism. The poleng (white and black cloth), for instance, symbolizes harmony between good and evil. Gringsing cloth is believed to possess strong magical forces. For many centuries, gringsing textiles were only used for rituals.

In the past, the procession of women looked rather somber with participants wearing modest clothes, mostly black.

Now, times are changing. Women wear their most expensive lace kebaya (blouses) over glittering songket for both religious and daily activities. Wearing expensive clothes is not frowned upon as long as it is done as part of ritual obligations. Balinese people dedicate their work and artistic endeavors as ngayah -- to serve the Almighty.