For Balinese, the gift really is in the giving

For Balinese, the gift really is in the giving

By Garret Kam

BALI (JP): Offerings are perhaps Bali's most important form of
art, even more so than the paintings and sculptures for which the
island is famous.

The reason is simple. Offerings, banten in Balinese, lie at
the heart of the Hindu religion. Made of perishable materials,
the fragrant flowers and carefully trimmed palm leaves wilt
within hours under the tropical sun.

Artistically arranged edible parts are wolfed down after a
ceremony by hungry worshipers. Stale cookies, moldy rice and
decaying meat are devoured by dogs. Remaining bits and pieces are
unceremoniously tossed onto a trash heap to be burned or to rot.

Ephemeral beauty is the esthetic essence of offerings. At the
peak of their freshness, the colors, shapes, ingredients and
fragrances appeal to all the senses.

In most cases, offerings are public art for everyone to enjoy,
as in the penjor, graceful arches of palm leaf ornaments hanging
from bamboo poles, which line roadsides on special holy days.

At the same time they are intensely personal, as in the jolan
or saiban, a few grains of salt and cooked rice on small squares
of banana leaves, which are made daily in households.

What is the reasoning behind an offering? First, an offering
is a gift. But why give something? The most obvious answer is to
get something in return. This can include anything from health,
wealth and success.

An appeal is made to the deities with prayers and presents of
food. If the request is granted, then gifts of thanks are
necessary, and a mutual relationship is established which must be
maintained. To forget or neglect brings danger that can be
removed only by more complicated offerings and rituals.

Offerings are also given as a kind of payment so that an
offending spirit will be satisfied and leave, thus not causing
any trouble. This offering, called caru, exorcises evil and
removes ritual pollution. They usually include the sacrifice of
chickens on the smallest scale, and large-scale ritual slaughter
of many kinds of animals held on rare occasions.

Cockfighting also falls into this category, for negative
forces favor fresh blood and hard liquor, among things suitable
for their rough character.

With such a myriad range of forms and functions, some basic
elements are common to nearly all offerings. Ingredients for
chewing betel -- areca nut, betel leaf, limestone paste -- are
essential in the small flower-filled canang, a refined Balinese
word for the betel quid itself. This is often represented by a
bit of betel leaf, smeared with lime, put in a piece of palm
leaf.

Guests, whether human, divine, or demonic, are presented this
chew as a sign of welcome and respect. If a guest is particularly
esteemed or even feared, a more substantial treat is necessary.

In Balinese terms, this means fruits and snacks along with
rice and accompanying side dishes.

Food, especially rice, is thus another key component in larger
offerings. The natural colors of some varieties of rice are
associated with different Hindu deities and compass directions --
white for Iswara, god of the east; red for Brahma in the south;
and black for Vishnu, who dwells in the north.

Turmeric is used to dye rice yellow, commonly used for nasi
kuning in Java, for Mahadewa in the west. A combination of grains
of each of the four colors, mixed in the middle, is for Shiva.

Cosmic

Rice must be molded into different shapes, but it is usually
conical to symbolize the cosmic mountain Meru or Mandaragiri, or
Bali's highest volcano, Gunung Agung.

It is also cooked in ketupat, small packets plaited from palm
leaves and ideal for taking to ceremonies far away. These come in
dozens of different geometric shapes, birds, animals and even
gamelan musical instruments.

When pounded into flour for dough, rice takes on the forms of
hundreds or even thousands of individually crafted figures
representing the cosmos, as in one of the largest offerings of
all, the sarad, literally "all the world".

Rice, especially glutinous or sticky rice mixed with sugar and
grated coconut, is the basis for many types of delectable snacks.

Like people, demons and deities are fond of sweets called
jaja; whether fried, steamed, or baked, they have important
symbolic functions in offerings. In a similar manner, fruits of
all sorts are often included in large offerings.

Complementary to rice is meat because together they represent
plant and animal life. Pork is most commonly used. The meat is
pounded into a paste with spices and molded into a variety of
symbolic shapes for satay.

Thick layers of white fat are cut and trimmed into delicate
flower-like forms with bright red chilis. Flora and fauna thus
take on the character of the other: rice becomes all kinds of
creatures, while flesh is transformed into a floral arrangement.

All the ingredients must be properly presented in containers
such as decorative bowls, pedestals, baskets and trays.

Young coconut palm leaves are trimmed and pinned together into
fanciful shapes and placed on the bottom as a base. After the
food is arranged, other palm leaf ornaments containing betel chew
and flowers are placed on top. It is here that the Balinese excel
in the art of jajaitan, from the word jait meaning "stitch",
because the process does indeed resemble sewing with bamboo pins.
Beautiful patterns are cut from leaves which are assembled into
circular, hourglass, fan or fringed shapes.

Money

A small amount of money is included in most offerings, divided
between the priest who conducts the ceremony and for the upkeep
of the temple where the ritual takes place.

Holy water and fragrant incense accompany the priest's
incantations while he or she rings a special ceremonial bell. The
invisible deities and demons consume the spiritual essence of the
ingredients offered to them, while the physical "leftovers" are
consumed by people and animals.

As can be expected, tremendous variations occur in offerings
across the island, between districts and even within a village.
No doubt this is due to the oral tradition of learning offerings.

Each person shapes leaves from memory and practice rather than
from pre-cut or printed patterns. Ingredients depend on different
fruits and flowers in season, or what grows in the yard.

Of course, socioeconomic status plays an important role as in
everything else. The Balinese take all this in stride, calling it
desa-kala-patra, meaning place, time and development.

Despite the many guidelines, they are flexible enough to allow
some room for individual creative expression. Making an offering
is part of the devotional process, and the best skills are relied
upon to make it as beautiful as possible.

With more Balinese holding full-time jobs, it is sometimes
impossible for them to find time to make their own offerings.

As a result, common offerings can be purchased at the market,
or more complex ones ordered in advance from a tukang banten.

While purists may disapprove of this commercialization, it is
much better for the art to go in this direction than to resort to
plastic and other artificial materials.

Even worse would be for it to die out, but that seems unlikely
as education, publications and museum displays document the
making and meaning of offerings.

There have been attempts in the past to simplify them, but
increased elaboration seems the trend as religious ceremonies get
even bigger and happen more frequently.

Some offerings, especially penjor, are used for government
functions, and canang are centerpieces on restaurant tables.
Contests for most beautiful offerings are not unheard of these
days.

Integral as they are to the Balinese, the temporary nature of
offerings reflects developments and changes which always have
been facets of their culture.