Devout Balinese fight terror with ritual and prayers

Devout Balinese fight terror with ritual and prayers

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

While many of their Balinese brethren were busy condemning
terrorists or feeling paranoid about Muslims, other Balinese,
whose island has been attacked twice by suicide bombers, held
mass prayers in an attempt to change the terrorists' violent
mind-sets.

"We are gathered here to pray for all human beings, not just
for Bali. We are sad indeed that Bali was attacked but we see
that as an accident, or God's will. We pray so that the
terrorists may be changed to become full of love for others,"
Surya, 40, a Tabanan native, told The Jakarta Post.

With his hands enclosing a flower and a joss stick in front of
his face, Surya, closed his eyes, saying his prayers devoutly
among a crowd of tens of thousands of Balinese at Canggu Beach in
Tabanan, Bali, last Wednesday, when they conducted a Kejabe Kuta
-- an event at which the Balinese people pray to God to spare
them from all disasters and bad luck.

The voices of hundreds of Balinese women chanting prayers
together and the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach
created a unique atmosphere -- some said that many holy spirits
were present during the event.

Since early morning, representatives of barong (community
unit) after barong had arrived at the beach, and by 10 a.m.,
several hundred meters of the beach were fully occupied by them.

As the sun begin to shine brightly over the coast, some 17
barong from six regencies on the island had gathered to
participate in a ritual whereby a group of Hindu priests take
water from the sea and use it to cleanse away all the bad luck,
disasters and threats that have affected their island.

Each barong, comprising around 800 families, brought with them
their own logos, food and traditional ornaments, including
various kinds of masks, traditional umbrellas, weapons, and
various kinds of fruit.

At 11 a.m., the masked priests, heavily guarded by a group of
people, arrived and directly went out a few meters into the
water, where they said prayers before fetching some seawater.

Many participants move forward to try to get water directly
from the priests.

By around 11.20 a.m., the priests starting performing melasti,
in which they distribute the seawater to other priests or
directly sprinkle it on the participants to ward off the threat
of misfortune and disaster.

"The water is seen by the Balinese as a mixture of all the
elements in the universe. The srinkling of the water is not only
aimed at banishing misfortune from Bali, but also serves as a
symbol that the world and universe has been cleansed of violence
and human greed," Wayan Budarmadja, one of the event organizers
and a noted Balinese figures, told the Post.

The participants continued reciting their prayers loudly as
they were sprinkled by the priests.

By around 12:15 p.m., the melasti was over, and several men
took the food plus the ornaments to the sea to symbolize their
sacrifices to God and the sea.

"The ritual is not a common event as we hold it only every
three years. Some 116 pura (Hindu temple) congregations from all
over Bali came here to pray. We want to show the world that Bali
is still very much alive, despite the recent bomb attacks," Wayan
Budarmadja, the event coordinator, told the Post.

Bali has been rocked by two major bomb attacks, including the
2002 bombings, which killed 202 people, and the Oct. 1 blasts
that killed 23 people, including the three suicide bombers, and
injured more that 130.

As all participants started to leave the beach, each barong
began simultaneously playing dynamic music with different
traditional instruments as if to tell the whole world that a
peaceful beginning had once again arrived in Bali.