History of Bali

An old manuscript, the Catur Yoga, tells of the formation of the world and places Bali in the centre of the universe, as an island resting on the back of a turtle floating in an ocean, beneath a canopy of “perfumed sky, beautiful and full of rare flowers”. Another story tells of a great Javanese priest drawing his finger across the isthmus which joined Bali to Java and cutting the island free. At one time Bali was indeed connected to Java-the strait separating the two islands is just 3 km wide ad no more than 60 metres deep.

Bali

For many westerners, Bali doesn’t extend beyond the tourist leaflet: idyllic tropical beaches, lush green forests and happy islanders who work and play in childlike innocence. This vision of paradise has been turned into a commodity for the tens of thousands of western tourists who flood into Bali’s Kuta Beach every year, who see nothing but Kuta Beach, and go away leaving the sand scarred end to end ith motorcycle tracks. In actual fact the tourist trade is only a peripheral thing; away from the commercial traps of the southern beaches you can still find Bali’s soul, towards the mountain where it has always been. It is there you will find rice paddies tripping down hillsides like giant steps, holy mountains reaching up through the clouds, dense tropical jungles, long sandy beaches, warm blue water and crashing surf. And it’s there you’ll discover the extraordinary resilience of the Balinese people and their culture.

History of Indonesia – The Early Kingdoms: Srivijaya, Shailendra & Mataram

The Sumateran Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya rose in the 7^th century AD and while its power has been absurdly romanticized, it nevertheless maintained a substantial international trade – run by Tamils and Chinese. It was the first major Indonesian commercial seapower, able to control much of the trade in South-East Asia by virtue of its control of the Straits of Melaka between Sumatera and the Malay peninsula.

Merchants from Arabia, Persia and India brought goods to the coastal cities to exchange for both local products and goods from China and the spice islands. Silk, porcelain, Chinese rhubarb (peculiar for its medicinal properties) came from China in return for ivory, tortoise shell, rhinoceros horn, cloves, cardamom and pepper, as well as precious wood like ebony and camphor wood, perfumes, pearls, coral, camphor, amber and the dull reddish-white precious stone known as cornelian or chalcedony. Exports to Arabia included aloes for medicinal uses, camphor, sandalwood, ebony and sapanwood (from ehich a red dye is made), ivory, tin and spices. By the 13^th century woolen and cotton cloth, as well as iron and rice were being imported by Sumatera.

Meanwhile, on Java, the Buddhist Shailendra and the Hindu Mataram dynasties flourished on the plains of Central Java between the 8^th and 10^th centuries. While Srivijaya’s trade brought it wealth, these land-based states had far greater manpower at their disposal and left magnificent remains, in particular the vast Buddhist monument of Borobudur and the huge Hindu temple complex of Prambanan.

Thus two types of states evolved in Indonesia. The first, typified by Srivijaya, were the mainly Sumateran coastal states-commercially oriented, their wealth derived from international trade, their cities highly cosmopolitan. In contrast, the inland kingdoms of Java, separated from the sea by volcanoes (like the kingdom of Mataram in the Solo River region), were agrarian cultures, bureaucratic, conservative, with a marked capacity to absorb and transform the Indian influences.

By the end of the 10^th century, the centre of power had moved from Central to East Java where a series of kingdoms held sway until the rise of the Majapahit kingdom. This is the period when Hinduism and Buddhism were syncretised and when Javanese culture began to come into its own, finally spreading its influence to Bali. By the 12^th century Srivijaya’s power seems to have declined and the empire broke up smaller kingdoms.

History of Indonesia – The Development of Early Sea Trade

Foreign traders were attracted by the Indonesian archipelago’s unique local products – the foremost were spices, which were used as flavorings and also to preserve food (meat in particular). Sumatera was famous for gold, pepper and benzoin (an aromatic gum valued especially by the Chinese) – but the real ‘Spice Islands’ were the tiny specks in region now known as Maluku (the Moluccas): Ternate, Tidore, islands off the coast of Halmahera, Ambon and Banda. On these islands grew nutmeg and cloves which could be used as spices and preservatives, in the manufacture of perfumes, and for medicinal purposes. By the 1^st century AD Indonesian trade was firmly established with other parts of Asia, including China and India. Indian trade, the more active of the two, linked India, China and Indonesia with Greece and Rome-Ptolemy mentions the island of Indonesia in his writings as early as 165 AD.

History of Indonesia - The Coming of Hinduism & Buddhism

One of the puzzles of Indonesian history is how the early kingdoms on Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan and Bali were penetrated by Hinduism and Buddhism. The oldest works of Hindu art in Indonesia, statues from the 3^rd century AD, come from Sulawesi and Sumatera. The earliest Hindu inscriptions, in Sanskrit, have been found in West Java and eastern Kalimantan and date from the early 5^th century AD.

Several theories regarding the influx of Hinduism and Buddhism have been proposed. Large scale immigration from India is generally ruled out and there is no evidence for the theory that Indian princes, defeated in wars in India, fled to the islands of South-East Asia and established kingdoms on the Indian model. Certainly Indian traders brought Tamil, the language of southern India, but only Brahmins could have brought Sanskrit, the language of religion and philosophy. Some Brahmins may have followed the traders as missionaries-although Hinduism is not a proselytizing religion. On the other hand Buddhism is a proselytizing religion and was carried far from its Indian homeland.

Another theory holds that the early Indonesians were attracted to the cultural life of India in much the same way Elizabethan English were to Italy, and the Indonesian Aristocracies played an active role in transferring Indian culture to Indonesia by inviting Brahmin priests to their courts. Possibly it was hoped the new religions could provide occult powers and a mythological sanction for the Indonesian rulers – as had happened in India. This theory fits in well with the mythological and mystical view of history which has persisted since the beginning of recorded Indonesian civilization. In the Hindu period the kings were seen as incarnations of Vishnu and even after the arrival of Islam the dynasties traced their lineage on one side back to Mohammed and from there to the prophets and Adam – but on the other side it was traced to the heroes of the wayang, the indigenous puppet theatre of Java, and to gods whom orthodox Muslims considered pagan. One Sumateran dynasty even claimed descent from Alexander the Great and as late as the second half of the 19^th century the rulers of Solo were boasting a special alliance with Nyai Lara Kidul, the Goddess of the South Seas, and with Sunan Lawu, the ruler of the spirits on Mt. Lawu.

History of Indonesia - In the Beginning

From the 7^th century BC there were well-developed and organized societies in the Indonesian archipelago. The inhabitants knew how to irrigate rice fields, domesticate animals, use copper and bronze, and had some knowledge of sea navigation. There were villages – often permanent ones – where life was linked to the production of rice, the staple crop.

These early Indonesians were animists, believing that all animate ad inanimate objects have their own particular life force, semangat or soul. Certain people had more semangat than others – such as the tribal and village leaders, and the shamans or priests who had magical powers and could control the spirit world. The spirits of the dead had to be honored since their semangat could still help the living; there was a belief in the afterlife and weapons and utensils would be left in tombs fr use in the next world. Supernatural forces were held responsible for natural events, and evil spirits had to be placated by offerings, rites and ceremonies. In a region where earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and torrential rainstorms are common events, a belief in malevolent spirits is hardly surprising.

 Villages, at least in Java, developed into embryonic towns, and small kingdoms (little more than collections of villages subservient to petty chieftains) developed by the 1^st century AD, together with their own ethnic and tribal religions. The climate of Java, with its hot, even temperature, plentiful rainfall and volcanic soil, was ideal for the wet-field method of rice cultivation, known as sawah cultivation, and the well organized society it required may explain why the people of Java and Bali developed a more sophisticated civilization than those of the other islands. The dry field or ladang method of rice cultivation is a much simpler form of agriculture and requires no elaborate social structure.

The social and religious duties of the rice-growing communities were gradually refined to form the basis of adat or customary law-a traditional law that was to persist through waves of imported religious beliefs-Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity – and which still remains a force in Indonesia today.

The Wayang

The Wayang

Javanese culture is a product of pre-Hindu, Hindu and Islamic influences. The rise of the 16^th century Islamic states brought a rich new cultural heritage but the Hindu heritage also managed to continue its influence.

The Javanese shadow-puppet (wayang) theatre has been a major means of preserving the Hindu-Buddhist heritage in java. The main wayang form is the wayang kulit; the word wayang means shadow, and the word kulit means leather. Thus the wayang kulit indicates a form of shadow theatre using puppets made of leather. In the wider sense the word wayang refers to all dramatic plays:

Wayang Kulit, The shadow-puppet theatre, in which perforated leather figures are manipulated behind an illuminated cotton screen, is the best known of the wayang forms. The stories are usually based on the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, although other pre-Islamic stories are also performed. In a traditional performance a whole night might be devoted to just one drama (lakon) from a legend. A single puppeteer (the dalang) animates the puppets and narrates and chants through the entire night to the accompaniment of the gamelan orchestra.

The real origin of the wayang kulit is unknown. Shadow puppet theatre is not unique to Java, it can also be found in India, China and parts of South-East Asia. Strangely enough, given that the wayang kulit tells stories from pre-Islamic days, Javanese tradition credits the creation of the wayang to the nine walis, the semi-legendary apostles of Islam in Java. Many wayang kulit figures and even whole stories have a specific mystical function; certain stories are performed for the purpose of protecting a rice crop (these incorporate the rice goddess Dewi Sri), the welfare of a village or even individuals.

By the 11^th century wayang performances with leather puppets were flourishing in Java and by the end of the 18^th century the wayang kulit had developed most of the details of puppets design and performances techniques we see today. The standardization of the puppet designs is traditionally attributed to King Raden Patah of Demak (an Islamic kingdom on the site of modern-day Semerang) who reigned in the first half of the 16^th century.

The puppets are made of leather, water buffalo leather from a young animal being the most favored material. The outline of the puppet is cut using a thin knife and the fine details carved out using small chisels and a hammer. When the carving is finished the moveable arms are attached and the puppet is painted. Lines are drawn in and accentuated with black ink which is also used to increase the contrast of the carved holes. The cempurit, the stick of horn used to hold the puppet upright, is then attached.

The leaf-shaped kayon is meant to represent the ‘tree’ or ‘mountain of life’ and is used to end scenes or to symbolize wind, mountains, obstacles, clouds, or the sea. Made of the same flexible hide as the other puppets the kayon might be waved softly behind the cloth screen while a puppet figure is held horizontally-a surprisingly effective way of indicating flight through the cloudy sky. There are a number of symbolic decorations on the kayon including the face in the centre of the tree which symbolizes the danger and risk that all people must confront in life.

The characters in wayang are brought to life by the dalang. To call him a puppeteer belittles the extraordinary range of talents he must possess. Sitting cross-legged on a mat before the white screen the dalang might manipulate dozens of figures in the course of a performance. He recounts events spanning centuries and continents, improvising from the basic plot a complex network of court intrigues, great loves, wars, philosophy, magic, mysticism and comedy. He must be a linguist capable of speaking both the language of his audience and the ancient kawi language spoken by the aristocratic characters of his play; he must be a mimic capable of producing a different voice for each of his characters; he must have great physical stamina to sustain a performance which will last from the evening until the early hours of the morning; he must be a musician, able to direct the village’s gamelan orchestra which accompanies the performance; he must be versed in history, as well as have a deep understanding of philosophy and religion; he must be a poet capable of creating a warm or a terrifying atmosphere; but he must also be a comedian able to introduce some comic relief into his performances. Understandably, the dalang has always been regarded as a very special type of person. Most dalang are men but today there are a number of female dalang in Java.

The dalang directs the gamelan orchestra using a system of cues, often communicating the name of the composition to be played using riddles or puns. The player of the kendang or drum acts as the liason between the dalang and the other gamelan players, in setting the proper tempo and changes of tempo for each piece, and executing the important signals for ending pieces. The dalang may communicate with the orchestra using signals tapped out with the wooden cempala (a mallet) held in his left hand. Or there may be other types of cues; for example, one of the clowns in the performance may announce that a singing contest is to be held, then announce the song he intends singing and the gamelan will play that song.

The mass of the audience sits in front of the screen to watch the shadow figures, but some also sit behind the screen with the dalang, to watch the master at work.

Economy and Geography

Socially Java is an island of contrasts, geographically it is an island of great and varied beauty. Java provides leadership in politics and trade, abundant manpower and great potential markets but also, in terms of population pressure, the nation’s greatest economic problems. In the late ‘60s foreign investment went initially to the area surrounding booming Jakarta.

Java is predominantly a land of mountain peaks and smoking volcanoes, fertile green field and terraces, but to the north is the flat coastal plain and the sluggish Java Sea while the south coast faces the onslaught of the crashing waves of Indian Ocean. It’s a land of strong contrasts: wealth and squalor; majestic, open country and crowded, filthy cities; quiet, rural scenes and hustling, modern traffic.

Java is a long, narrow island which can be conveniently divided into three sections. In West Java is the capital Jakarta, a city which seems to epitomize all of Indonesia’s problems. Tourist attractions like Bandung (the cultural centre of the Sundanese), Cirebon, Pangandaran and the Ujung Kulon National Park are also found in West Java. In Central Java you will find temples and royal cities that tell of the rise and fall of the Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim kingdoms. Here too the old Javanese-Hindu traditions were least altered by the Muslims and outside influences and this region remains the vital centre of Javanese culture. Java is people and lots of them. Wherever you go it’s hard to escape the fact that this is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, but there are isolated places where you can find yourself out of sight and sound of other people. There’s the huge Dieng Plateau in the beautiful central highlands and, in East Java, the area around the spectacular Mt. Bromo volcano is as wild and desolate as you could hope for.