praise the eternal victor over death, who causeth longevity, force and power ... who art the omnipresent and maintaineth the world, who causeth freedom for all those who perform devotions and have faith ... / praise thee who have vanquished death.

(From a prayer recited by the high priest during a cremation.)

Religious rites and festivals guide a Balinese from birth to death and into the world thereafter. They provide the cohesive forces within the family unit and form the common basis of a village community. Religious observances regulate the plan of a town, the order of a home and the ethical code of Vie people. Holidays, entertainment and social gatherings are based upon the religious calendar and occur within the milieu of religious ceremonies It takes only a short stay in Bali to become acquainted with the unique religion of the island. In the innumerable shrines that mark the landscapes, in the Pendet offering dance that greets you, even in the gracious personality of the people, religion is essential to the identity of the Balinese and to their pattern of life.

From earliest times, the people of Bali have conceived of an ordered universe stretching from the heavens above the mountains down to the plunging depth; of the sea Everything, within nature has directions, rank and place all that is holy is associated with freight, the mountains and the direction upstream toward the majestic volcano Gunung Agung. All that is threatening or harmful belongs to the forces of the underworld, the fathomless ocean and the direction downstream toward the sea. The dwelling place of the people is in the intermediary sphere: the fertile plains between the mountains and the sea.

If is natural for the Balinese who live so close to the earth gaining nourishment from the soil and mountain streams, holding cele

white and black predominate. Most of the Balinese worship according to the Siwaistic s of Agama Hindu, since Siwa God in his manifestation as destroyer is most seen and felt the people through suffering and sickness.

In the hierarchy of the divine, below Sanghyang Widi and the Trinity are many other Dewa (male) and Dewi (female).closely linked to nature. Again the Brahma has an example. "If one could imagine an divisible whole seen from many different angles, so the Dewa and Dewi are different manifestations of Sanghyang Widi,..having its own associations." God in his power to create the wind is Dewa Bayu (deity of wind), in his power to create the rice he Dewi Sri (goddess of fertility), in his power create the ocean he is Dewa Baruna (deity the sea), and so on. Thus, the Balinese.many personifications of the same universe God. Whatever deity the people honor .reverence is also paid to Sanghyang Widi, indirectly through tangible things, like the..the sea, the rice, or a remembered forefather

Were Bali to be under the care of only deities and guardian ancestors, it would truly heavenly. But there is a darker, mysterious side to the island, when a moonless nigh falls and the back roads turn pitch black, what the forests rustle in eerie shadows and dogs begin to whine. Then the graveyard and crossroads become enchanted by noct..nal goblins and witches who assume forms weird animals and monsters to waylay innocent passers by. Reports range from monkey with golden teeth to baldheaded giants sight by eye-witnesses walking along the toads midnight . Of course, everyone knows who responsible for the ghostly visions: leyak witches or the spirits of living person's prating the art of black magic.

Every Balinese has a tale to tell about leyak one is bound to make their acquaintance, why there it be by hearing a spooky story, watch a play about Rangda (queen of the leyaks) possibly even a personal encounter. It's who, pered that leyaks, like vampires, are fond sucking the blood from sleeping people a like to capture little children for a tasty they also grow indignant if one neglect bring them offerings and may vent their ..by plaguing the community with sickness death. Yet, somehow leyaks are shy when comes to foreigners and never reveal the selves to outsiders. Those who are curious have to content themselves with. Hearsay, mas of magic, stone statues at the Pura dalem. ( Temple of the dead), and of course, the ..some, sabre-tootheog masks with flam tongues and long tendrils of goat s hair, who one sees everywhere,

While leyaks may seem more at hom, fantasy than in fact (none have been capture before they have disappeared), the witches most vivid characters in the s dint world of Balinese. And they are not alone. The butas and kalas invisible spirits which .the desolate seashores and dark woods can pollute a village with unseemliness disease, Should these evil spirits predominant even in one household, the entire villager thrown into jeopardy, and elaborate rites purification become necessary to cleans back to health again,

This assemblage of deities and demons is much a part of Bali 's population as the people themselves. Yet it would be misleading to the Ba1inese believe in many gods. Their religion grew from a long succession of Hindu and Buddhist influences upon deeply rooted ..of animism and ancestor worship. From teachings brought by mendicant priests veiling from India and Java, the people adopted practices to suit their needs. The strength Agama Hindu has long been its flexibility adapting to the changing times. In its..to the customary law of the land (adat to civil and domestic ceremonies, to science and superstition, labor and leisure in short, the whole of Balinese society, Agama Hin, has guided a community in achieving a life harmony and peace.

PRIESTHOOD AND WORSHIP gather people from all walks of life in common devotion. The serene figure of the priest, clad all in white and seated upon a high pavilion, is a familiar sight to all those who have attended temple festivals. Villagers make their devotions with the guidance of a priest so their prayers are properly directed and received. Ceremonies connected with civil law, such as marriages or the blessing of a newborn child, are conducted by a priest to bestow official authority, much like a state guarantee. Even for informal celebrations, for example, on completing a house, the priest is called upon to give God's blessing before the family moves into their new home. At times of rejoicing or times of sadness, the community first turns to its clergy which in Bali is divided into two levels: the pedanda or high priest, and the pemangku, the temple priest.

No momentous ceremony would be complete without the services of a pedanda. As spiritual leader of the community and carrier of the Agama Hindu theology' the high priest serves as a medium for the people during ceremonies. Through an intricate ritual of hymns and mantras, bell ringing and hand gestures, the priest temporarily achieves unity with God. By absorbing divine power into himself, he is able to prepare the purifying holy water essential to worship. This ritual may take several hours. Meanwhile the temple overflows with devotees--arriving in processions, parading among the shrines with offerings, crowding around the courtyard which has been transformed into a stage. Only in the tingling sensation that filters from the constant soft ringing of a bell, does one' become aware of the priest's presence as he silently recites the powerful mantras.

The divine spirit of God is embodied in the water prepared by the high priest. When the ritual has been completed, the priest passes the holy water to the pemangku (the temple priest), who sprinkles it upon the people as a blessing and purification. The hard-working pemangkus, as curators of the temple, are the supervisors of temple feasts. Whether they distributing holy water to their congregative receiving offerings or directing a large procession, it is they who officiate at the temple a take an active part in the ceremonies. The h, priest does not participate in worldly things. Is respected as a holy man set above people. He dedicates his life to meditation, study of theology and the performance of ritual. The devoted assistants of the priests their wives, who through marriage become priestesses and take on the same responsibilities as their husbands.

TEMPLES , large or small, plain or elaborate, I found everywhere on the island. Besides house temple in every compound, each villager must have at least three temples the Pura Desa, Pura Puseh, and Pura Dalem if it is no considered a complete village community There are countless others: the subak temple the clan temples, the banjar temples, a those shrines near the public bathing place dedicated to the spirits of the lakes and spring As sites for renewing contact with the spirit world through offerings aid prayer, temple are essential to the land. If not, the harmony between nature and the people would be disrupted, leaving these places, susceptible to accidents and danger.

Most of the time the temples are left unoccupied. It is only during holy days, when t deities and ancestral spirits descend from heaven to visit their devotees, that temples flouring with festivity. For this event, everyone arrive beautifully dressed, presenting the deities .food, music, prayer, devotions and the entertainment to amuse them during their .on earth. Usually after one or three day the deities return to heaven and the temple empties until the next holiday. Temples the as places for renewing contact with the diver are the true centers of the arts and the next of Balinese culture.

The plan of a temple reflects the spirit of Bali 's religion. Rather than a sombre, massive structure, the temple is "a gay, open-air affair" a spacious enclosure surrounded by walls and partitioned into courtyards. To enter, you pass through the monumental candi bentar, split gate resembling a tower cut in two halves, this passageway probably takes its form from the old candi monuments of ancient Java. Once inside it seems you're far away from the hurried traffic and commerce of the street side. In the absence of all the ceremonial decorations, the crowds dances and food stands, everything about a temple is quiet and withdrawn. Stone carvings of demonic faces, overgrown with weeds and moss, peer out from the walls onto the wide courtyard All around the courtyard stand a number of simple, thatched pavilions-an assembly hall where the desa authority holds meetings (bale agung), a shed for the temple orchestra (bale gong), a shelter for preparing offerings, and sometimes a cockfight arena.

Shaded by frangipani trees and a tall kulkul (alarm drum) tower, the outer courtyard functions as an antechamber for social affairs and preparations. A second closed gateway, paduraksa, guarded by statues of two fierce giants, leads to the inner courtyard: the temple proper. Here, lined in rows on the sides closest to the Mountains, ate the shrines that serve as "sitting Places" for the visiting deities. Perhaps the Old pemangku is there placing some small offerings before the shrines and brushing the fallen leaves aside to keep the place tidy. The multi-roofed towers of the meru shrines taper upwards to the sky. The receding roofs are always in odd numbers, the highest meru having eleven roofs in dedication to the spirits of Gunung Agung or Mt.Batur.

In the inner courtyard there are often shrines which house the temple's heirlooms. Medieval stone statues of Hindu deities, jewels, ancient manuscript and shapeless stones are preserved in temples as sacred relic. Either because of their antiquity or because they were found under extraordinary circurristances, these objects are considered divine gifts to the people. Yet a statue is never venerated for its own sake. There are no idols in Bali , both a thing and a person may be respected as holy because of a spiritual presence which dwells within.

TEMPLE FESTIVALS and holidays are held throughout the year. To pass a week without hearing of at least several celebrations in different villages is highly unlikely. Certain days are designated for special prayers, others for purification rites and others for offerings to the lower spirits. If a village is threatened by disease or an unexpected mishap, a ritual exorcism becomes necessary. A ceremony may also be prompted by divine inspiration through a trance medium, or by the fear of black magic. Then there are holiday seasons with festivals in all Bali 's temples, and the first nights of full moon and new moon are a time magically favorable for religious observances.

Among the most frequent ceremonies and one especially well known to visitors is the odalan. Held once each Balinese or lunar year on the anniversary of the temple's initial consecration, an odalan festival is long anticipated by the entire village as a day of prayer, feasting and entertainment lasting late into the night.

In the morning of an odalan all the men gather around the wantilan an open pavilion for staging cockfights. Originally, cockfighting served as an essential preliminary to temple feasts. The spilt blood of the cocks was a sacrifice to evil spirits so they would not interfere with the religious proceedings to follow. Later, ritual became secularized into a favorite sport, but cockfighting still retains its traditional place at the beginning of temple festivals.

For years, the cocks have been groomed, tested and coaxed for the special event. Before the fight, two men exchange their cocks to see if in strength and size the birds are evenly matched, and if they have a mean eye for each other. When the contest is agreed upon, the cock's feet are armed with vicious blades of polished steel. The thread bindings must be tight and bound properly. A jury member stands by to see they are fixed by regulation. Meanwhile, enthusiastic crowds are busy selecting their favorites. As the cocks are proudly displayed around the arena, each man shouts his odds and anyone wishing to accept the bet signals back. (No book keeping is needed since every man honors his bet.)

Amid this uproar of transactions, the cocks ate put down in a small square which marks the starting point. The arena falls silent as the cocks are provoked and released. In attacks too swift for the eye to follow, the cocks entwine in aerial combat, each striving to gain leverage for the lethal descent of its spurs. A round may last a few seconds, and for all the commotion that precedes them, the actual fights are quick and to the point a blood-stained cock unable to rise marks a defeat.

Do fighting cocks hold titles? Well, not exactly. One village near Gianyar was known for having a pure white cock reputed never to have lost a fight. At last, its reputation was challenged and a fight was held. The whole village betted upon the white cocks a sum amounting to two million rupiah. The cock won, and what a feast there was that night!

Cockfighting is definitely a man's sport. Women rarely watch, but usually they are preoccupied either selling snacks at the surrounding food stands (warungs) or arranging the high offerings. All during the day of an odalan, lofty pyramids of fruit, cakes and flowers arrive at the temple. Sometimes in the most startling fashion. At one festival, one meter high offerings came gliding in on the heads of girls riding bicycles, who dismounted with unbroken balance and entered the temple without once touching their heads!

Offerings should not be taken literally as actual food for the deities and evil spirits. Rather, they are given in the same spirit as one presents a gift-a sort of modest token to strengthen the people's request: that the divine bring more prosperity to the community and that the evil spirits bring the least possible trouble. Thus, offerings are always sharply divided into two kinds: those to the evil spirits which are disdainfully left upon the ground, and t1iose to the deities, exquisitely made and appropriately placed upon high altars. Near the high offerings burn fragrant wood and incense to carry their essence (sari) upward toward the divine. Ordinary people take what is left; the material part is later brought home and eaten by the family. So both the divine recipients and the donors enjoy the banquet.

While the offerings continue to arrive, the pemangku recites prayers of invitation requesting the deities to descend to the temple, their earthly residence. Often, the presence of the deities is represented by little figurines of gold, bronze or gilded wood (pratimas). The deities are asked to occupy the pratimas as a more tangible form to which the ceremony may be directed. These figures in themselves have no power. Like the temple shrines which support them, they are merely receptacles for a divine presence.

In the afternoon, everyone congregates among the long tapering flags that elegantly adorn the courtyard. All the shrines are smothered with splendid offerings and hung with traditional paintings and glittering brocades. The pratimas rest enclosed with flowers upon the shrines and high altars. Nearby, the pemangku sits before a brazier of incense and a water vessel, and blesses the people who have come with offerings. Everyone performs his duties seriously, yet there is no solemnity about a temple festival. All is gay and casual, since an odalan is as much a social occasion as a religious one. The pemangku's family is there village founders are honored; Pura Desa temple for official ceremonies involving living village community; and Pura Dalem the temple of the death for revering the death of death and the afterlife. Together temples form the core of the community.

For thousands of people, the community in the crowded neighborhoods of district .towns alive with traffic of bicycles, he drawn carriages and motor vehicles, with market places and the busy , enterprise of ...Who own the innumerable shops those ling avenues. But for the majority of Balinese whose livelihood's agriculture, the community, is near the rice fields in rural villages; it is the quiet hamlets with shaded pathways overt by vegetation, thatched roofs scattered be interminable mud walls, herds of farm ..and the children who are their caretakers, one pictures when remembering Bali.

A village (desa) is made up of family compounds that line either side of several .and lanes. Where the two main streets u at right angles in the center of the village, often is an open space (alun alun), at (which are the temples, the town .the cockfight arena, the Viome of the desa .of the local prince (puri), a large to containing the signal drum (kulkul to meetings, announce events or give warning and usually a giant banyan tree, the.tree of the Hindus. On, the outskirts of the.are the public baths and the . cemetery near the temple of the dead.

Although every Male citizen with a farm, generally owns the land he lives upon labors, theoretically the island is divine .and is leased to the people who.and live from it. The desa authority, a .council of married villagers, oversees that is built upon the land within the village formerly, desa control was very strict. If a man moved to another town, he asked to be leased from the desa association and took value of his share in village property, but house and land remained with the desa. Now a day the desa authority is more lenient. Decisions concerning land ultimately rest .the individual landowner. But in some conservative communities, like Tenganan of East Bali, the desa retains a stern control over village property.

Within the village are smaller communities the banjars. Cooperative groups of neighbors, bound to assist each other in marriages, festivals and especially during cremations. .adult belongs both to his desa and to his banjar, where he carries out most of his responsibilities to the villaga. The banjars own community's orchestras and dance property and have a kitchen for preparing banquets, signal drum tower to call meetings,. an, communal temple. The banjar's meeting an open pavilion, with a large porch, in familiar sight to every traveler. Called the .banjar, it serves as a local clubhouse who men can gather in their leisure hours to try their fighting cocks, practice with their . troupe, watch a rehearsal of a play .council or just sit and chat.

WORKING THE RICE begins shortly after day when the men set out to the fields, accompanied by flocks of ducks that are brought bathe and feed all day in the flooded paddi.., the cascading terraces of rice fields are the most striking feature of the landscape. Each individual plot of rice, sawah, is irrigated a contained by dikes of black earth, one flowi.into the next as in rhythmic pattern on green silk. Every farmer owning one or more sawah is compelled to join a subak, an agriculture society that controls the distribution of irrigation water to its members.

Like other Balinese associations, the sp.of the subak is communal. All members abi.by the same rules with each allotted work relation to the amount of water he receive, Subaks help the small agriculturalists by a Suring them of water, guard irrigation channels against strangers diverting the water their own use, repair any damages in the di.and organize banquets at a propitious ti.such as the completion of a harvest. At lease once a month a general meeting is held in small temple of the subak, a shrine in the middle of the rice fields dedicated to the agricultural deities. Subak associations are important, to the prosperity of the Balinese people. Mountainous nature of the land makes irrigation extremely difficulty, Only through this cooperation among neighboring farmers h.the Balinese become famed as the most efficient rice growers in the archipelago.

Before the fields are planted, offerings made to gain the goodwill of the deities' wave provide the crop with water and favorable conditions for a successful harvest. Characteristically, a little shrine resembling a Thai .house, constructed of bamboo, stands in every sawah as an after for the offerings there are placed there at specific times during growing season Although only men plant rice, everyone joins in the harvest, and often is an opportunity to meet future sweetheart

No set hours are reserved for working rice. Farmers begin soon after day break are also at work at dusk, since working is m comfortable during these cooler parts of day. Noontime is spent at leisure at home on the bale banjar Some seasons demand m., labor than others, During a harvest the village streets are almost deserted, the banjars emp.everyone is out in the fields. At other time after the rice has just been planted, few .are needed. Work and leisure run together in smooth rhythm.

THE HOUSEHOLD, naturally, is run by the women. Women are up at dawn with their husbands, preparing snacks for the men, fetching water from the village stream, and lying on morsels of rice and flowers as small offerings protect the homestead from evil spirits. The Balinese house can be viewed as a living organism. Like a human being, it has a head.ancestral shrine; arms the sleeping, quarter and living room; legs and feet-the kitchen and rice granaries; and an anus the garbage pit the back yard. Each compartment is a separation, pavilion (bale). For affluent families, the sleeping and living rooms are combined in a mode whitewashed building with a tiled roof: be usually all the bale are constructed of .and wood with thick, roofs of thatch The bale, are distributed within a well-kept courtyard surrounded by a high mud wall. Villagers few uncomfortable without a wall around the homes for privacy during the day and securities at night. Directly behind the entrance gate stands a small wall, aling aling, which not or screens the interior of the compound, but also guards against dangerous influences, for it said that evil spirits have trouble turning corners in the darkness.

Outside the Compound lies a fruit garden with a corner reserved for a pig style. The Balinese pig, a tamed descendant of the wild hog is the timid dweller of every household; raising pigs and chickens is one of the main sources of income for the women. On market day it is not uncommon to see a woman carrying food stand on her head and walking her pig to market at the end of a rope.

With the exception of cattle sales, the market is the woman's dominion. There she ma.spends the entire morning gossiping with friend who has settled on an adjacent spo. The market has a mood about it all the smell of the island's delicacies and domestic animal (chicks, ducks, piglets, and hungry dogs) seeds, beans, ferns, pastes of ail hues and textures, instant one-pot kitchens offering soup and curries wrapped in palm leaf, loco medicines to stop nose-bleeding and fainting mysterious fruits and betel nuts-in short, total experience in marketing. The grounds are, so filled with determined saleswomen that you wonder who is doing all the buying. Yet, there is always a constant coming and going of People and the hubbub of excited bargainers. Prices vary with the buyer. They are lowest to fellow villagers, higher to strangers, and considerably higher to foreigners-a customary procedure which is logical in a society so strongly oriented to the village community.

After a jaunt to the market, the women return to prepare the morning meal: steamed rice with spicy side dishes and hot, hot, hot sauce. During a harvest, they deliver the food to the men in the fields, but ordinarily the meal is set out for the family who may eat when they wish. Meals are eaten silently, leaving the relaxing time after dining for conversation. The day sets to the deep, rhythmic thumping of women pounding rice for tomorrow's meal.

In the evenings, after a refreshing bath, the men return home for dinner, usually the same food as lunch, served cold. Night is the time to put on clean clothes and stroll in the night markets in town, or meet under the lamplit food stands in the villages. The roads after dark always provide lively scenes of gamelan recitals, banjar activities, or an impromptu meeting of friends who lounge on the warm asphalt of the street side. If a temple festival or a cremation is approaching, the entire village is mobilized making preparations. Women fashion high offerings and palm leaf decorations, banjars rehearse for the ceremony, and men construct ornamental gateways of bamboo at the village entrances and long slender poles, penjors, which gracefully bend above the road to announce the occasion.

DEATH AND CREMATION are a passage from this life to the next in the soul's journey to heaven, A death is the time for sharing one's feelings, when all the friends of the deceased gather in his home to visit. Night after night, while the corpse is still kept in the house, they stay up until late hours to keep the family company. Women help prepare refreshments for the men and assist in making the necessary offerings for the purification of the body men build high altars for the offerings and in cleansing the corpse. On the approved, date set by the priest; the body is purified burial in the village graveyard.

The body is buried only temporarily until is cremated. Many villagers, who do not , to hold a cremation on the first auspicious indicated by the religious calendar, may several years until a mass cremation is for which everyone shares the expenses the other hand, the body of a Brahmana priest cannot be buried under the ground and be cremated as soon as the family is ab. man of wealth, aware that a cremation is most important and most costly of a monies, sets aside a found which will aided family after his death.

As the date for a cremation approach everybody in the village is engaged in . the offerings, coffin, and huge tower beautifully decorated to emphasize the importance of the grand send-off. The Balinese believe a person consists of three "body (sarira) the material body (stulasarira) body of thought and feeling (suksmasarira) and the soul (antakaranasarira). When a son dreams, it is the body of thought and .ing that wanders. The cremation ceremonies returns the material body to its five construction elements, and weakens the attachment soul towards worldly desires, the wo. thought and feeling which clings to the and causes it to be reborn. Only when the is destroyed and the soul freed from all w.attractions, can the Soul be reunited with Supreme Being. The soul cannot be rel. as long as the body remains. Thus, a cremation is a happy occasion, for it represents the complishment of the most sacred du.every Balinese: the liberation of the s.a parent or relation.

Most surprising to visitors first see cremation is the lack of solemnity. 0n awaited friends and relatives arrive all over the island bringing small gifts for family. (The traditional present is a pie.white cloth, signifying purity, which is us, part of the shroud.) The body has been brought from the graveyard to the home and placed upon a special pavilion encircled with offerings. Throughout the morning the guests are entertained with refreshments, and at noon are treated to a splendid banquet by their hosts. Then what seems a casual reception suddenly explodes in activity. Urged by the thunderous beat of the gamelan, dozens of village men rush into the household and carry the corpse from its resting place. All try to participate in carrying the body, for by doing so one shows his loyalty to the deceased. The carriers hoist the corpse above their shoulders and turn it about in all directions. This is in order to confuse the soul so that it will not be led astray and wander back to the house. The corpse is finally lifted to the awaiting tower, a high structure of wood or bamboo glittering with paper ornaments, mosaic mirrors and bright fabrics.

The tower represents the cosmos. Its wide base is in the shape of a turtle entwined by two nagas (crowned snakes) symbol of the foundation of the world. Above is an open platform where the body is placed: the space between heaven and earth. The platform supports a multi roofed tower symbolizing the receding heavens. The number of roofs varies according to the caste of the deceased. Brahmanas and the highest aristocracy may have towers of eleven roofs; the lower aristocracy seven or nine roofs; and the common people from three to seven. Nowadays, to save on cost, the tower often has but a single roof. The cremation tower of a high priest has no roofs at all.

Standing nearby is the large animal sarcophagus, which also varies with each caste. The Brahmanas burn their dead in a bull, or a cow if it is a woman. The Satrias use a winged lion, and the Sudras a fantastic half elephant half-fish. But since customs are always changing, nowadays most of the nobility uses the bull, once the privilege of the priestly class.

The procession to the cremation ground provides an astonishing spectacle. Larger

Ceremonies need as many as a hundred men to carry the huge tower and bull in the tumultuous parade through town to the burning site near the temple of the dead. Led by a single line of women who carry the offerings and holy water. The bearers lift the towering constructions above a sea of followers. The tower is led by a long white cloth held by the relatives. In the magnificent cremations for Brahmana priests and high aristocracy, the cloth takes the form of a serpent which guides the soul.

As he procession crowds into the cremation ground, the body is passed from tower to bull, its path marked by the long white cloth stretched above the heads of women relations. Close relatives supervise the final details when the shroud is cut and the body exposed. The high priest mounts the bull's platform to recite the final prayers and pour holy water upon the corpse, letting the pots of water break upon the ground as is the custom. (Elements connected with the Hindu Trinity-water, fire and wind relates to the ritual of cremation: water as the final blessing, fire for burning the body, and wind which carries the smoke to heaven.) The adegan, an effigy used in the ceremony as a symbolic container of the soul, is placed upon the. corpse and thousands of old Chinese coins (kepengs) are spread all over it, traditionally as a ransom to Yama, the deity of death. When proper offerings and prayers have been made to ensure the soul a safe journey, the bull is set ablaze. Everyone stays to watch the fire until the bull is a singed skeleton, the body ashes and the soul lifted from this world.

After the body has burned, the procession marches to the sea to deposit the ashes,' or to the, river if the sea is too far away. This custom is the final purification, the washing away of all Unseemliness. Twelve or forty-two days after cremation, the Balinese hold a second funeral ceremony, nyekah or mukur, which releases the soul from the body of thought and feeling still clinging to it. Finally the deified soul is enshrined in the family temple, but a distinction remains between the soul and gods.

In the following dramas, the accent is the unraveling of a story more than the hi. ened counterpoint between music and The gamelan orchestra is always essential it is not as commanding as the development, plot and the colorful spectrum of person included. Tales of passion, historical romance love adventures, and military chivalry are .lar themes of these dramas. The majority stories are drawn from the medieval co East Java-a golden age in Javanese .when kingdoms were at the peak on splendor and of their influence upon Balinese actors' costumes, language and gestures from the grand court style of the past speak in the classical language of poetr. able to well-bred noble families, and d. the high, refined manner that signifies the. ly bearing of the aristocracy.

All the comic interludes the Balinese so are provided by the lower members court the retainers and ladies-in. There are always two male clowns, w.usually servants of the king's prime m.They function within the drama as inter of the narrative, since they translate the d. poetic language spoken by their regal n. into vernacular Balinese so that everyone audience can understand the story.

Like Laurel and Hardy, the clowns two types. The first to enter, the punta .higher position of the two. He struts or beaming of self importance as purvey on master's glory. He is followed by his delin.younger brother, kartala, who, in all his attraction to be as pompous as his brother, falters .surdity. In rowdy witticisms, the two vie an each other: the first incessantly chastise. second for his misbehavior and the s. miming the blown-up ego of his superior burlesque, sprinkled with off color joke hold an audience in laughter for hours. C. are favorites of the Balinese drama.

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