The final day the Gods descend: Kuningan 2013

Ibu and I the night before creating the billions of canang 

it's about all i can do

the family compounds have a designated room/space to keep all the upacara materials+ baskets; it's immense

at Ina Inn, the women vociferously  chatting, but their hands are busy

Cousin Kadek is making the  ceningan- which are the protective deities for the cars + motorcycles

Well, it has finally happened. I went to so many temples for Kuningan*, visited and prayed that I have actually lost count.  I'd venture somewhere between 20-30.  And I loved every minute of it!  
* Kuningan translates as "yellow" representing the yellow rice that is prepared for the holiday (turmeric added)

After Ayu prepared us the most delicious dinner: including my favorite: jackfruit curry , she went right to work making 40  of these offerings that included yellow rice, bananas, starfruit, sugarcane  and a whole lot of spices and herbs

before we rode in the car, we had an entire blessing ceremony

here's an example of lamak + ceningan

more on the motorbike

Ayu with ceningan- Are you getting the idea of why i stick with with putting little bits of flower and chiffonade pandan leaves in the canang.

The  10 day holiday that spans Galungan - Kuningan is the period of time that the Balinese believe the Gods descend in their temples.  This is the time to ask the Gods to Bless and Protect everything; including the motorcycles and cars.

No, they never relax; Auntie (who lives in Jantuk's compound and is crippled but doesn't let anything get in her way.)
Everyone is taken care of ........and has a role in the family compound

Again this in another example of the ceningan

I spent the early morning until about 2pm in Bunutan.
 Therefore visiting all the family temples as well as the temples in the village, not just desa + dalem but the garden temples, the old temples, the Wisnu temples.,the market (pasar) temples.....well virtually everyone is busy trying to fit them all in.  Whew.... I've never watched the Great  Race.....but I have to say that did come to mind for me.  It's not that the Balinese are anything but deliberate, thoughtful and patient.....but I can imagine more individuals than Jantuk and I having difficulty sleeping the night before.  And don't even bother "going through the motions"........... Intention is everything; your mind and body must coalesce into a spiritual dominion despite the externals. You inner world must focus on devotion.  Sounds easy....?
Well they sure do make it look easy and natural.

meeting Ketut (Dedik's wife) at a small garden temple..... to bless all of mother nature

Here is Wayan, the only girl cousin in the entire Sudiana compound.  This year she is old enough to do the blessings and go to the temple.   (which was needed as Ayu again had her "time of the month" and was not allowed to enter any temples)  She patiently led me around to them all.

so , this is what we carry to all the small temples and family temples we visited.  Incense is at the top/ we purify ourselves with this, we leave the small canangs for the gods and place larger ones also.

young Wayan at one of the small alters (there are always 4 at each temple representing the directions), we must do the prayers and blessings and offerings at each

Jantuk at the pasar temple

Here we are back in Jantuk's family temple, in one of the meru  - the pagodas

Ibu blessing

with "holy water"...... we are blessed with Ylangylang blossoms

even the youngest learn to pray

Kadek, this is a ceremonial tie for the children: for protection

After concluding all the temples in Bunutan, there was one I  still  had to see.  This was the Pura Dalem, and I had not seen it completely reconstructed (see blog from Feb 2012).  I had missed the odalan in May.  It really took my breath away.  I have two favorite temples in all of Bali and Bunutan's 4 year reconstructed Pura Dalem is one of them. For Sheer BEAUTY and scale  I am beguiled. (the other one is Penulisan- for height ,grandeur and sacredness of place)

Entering the site of the Pura Dalem ("inner" + death)
Death is only rebirth/reincarnation to the Hindu Balinese

Garuda

less than a year old and the patina of plants + moss are adding age and character

over the doorway

at the entryway 

the cousins lead me in the boiling heat..... notice the rice from praying

The detail... all hand done by artisans- this Still done regularly in the 21 C.  Artistry LIVES

At about 2pm (after blessing the vehicles) we headed to Tabanan, a district in the south east.  We were going to visit Ayu's family (remember when a woman weds she lives in her husband's family's compound) in the town on MallKangin.
Ayu's family is a higher caste (Yes, Jantuk married UP) and her father is a mangghu (priest).   I was thrilled to finally meet the other side of the family.  The ride was beautiful, filled with terraced rice paddies and Tanah Lot Pura, a very famous temple in Bali built out into the water. I was welcomed as family and it felt that way.

Ayu and Pak Gusti (yes, his religious duties over,.... he was amusingly dressed in western clothing)

But Ibu blessed us as we went to the family temple and prayed

These are Ayu's sister + sisters in law.  Everyone had gotten out of their "holiday wear" by the time we arrived

Yes, these women are as FUN as they are beautiful.....we had long conversations as their kids would come by. we laughed so much.  They ALL work in the Tourist industry. Ferbie,  Luhde, Isa and Gex

So on arriving home, late into the night....... with more than a glow of sweat on my brow (and continual  praying on your knees wreaks havoc with your pedicure) I too was finally able to disrobe, get out of my kebaya (purple + gold), kain (sarong), (pumpkin+ russets + lavender) and temple sash..... only to have a surplus of rice fall out of Everywhere.  I laughed at the way "sacredness" plays out.
It had been another extraordinary day, filled with Learning and the joy of being with the Balinese.  I may be falling out of love with Ubud, but my love and deep admiration for Bali remains.  And what is Bali if not the open and intelligent people that I am fortunate to know and meet each day I am here.  It all feels very natural to me (except the soaring temperatures every single day), but it's a small price to pay for what I receive by being here and interacting with the people of Bali.  And there is a hell of a lot of laughter.


travelin' woman

Land Trust Project/Dreams?

this ad is in the middle of the terraced rice paddies

I have titled this blog with a conspicuous question mark.  That is because I still do not know whether this project is legally feasible,
logistically doable or whether I have the perseverance to endure the Balinese system of Jam Karet  (elastic time) and all the cultural differences that makes this island amazing; but at the same time make it difficult to "do business".
Did i mention that the Balinese spend a lot of time preparing for and attending Upacara???????????*
*unnecessary  question marks

all new since last year; and these are built  in the Unesco designated "sawah" (rice paddies)

My Project: My Dream: to bring the "Land Trust" concept to Bali and replicate the land use strategy employed in the US for the past 4 decades to save endangered species, threatened habitats and of course agricultural land. The "Bali Sawah Land Trust" will be controlled and managed completely by  Balinese.  I am here to bring technical assistance (with US land trust/conservation experts)  to bring it all into fruition.
And get it Up and Running.

Are you aware enlightened ones that almost No One out of the USA even knows about this strategy?  I am talking about international environmental lawyers, conservationists, real estate, the agriculturalists/farmers,  land use planners, Advocates or the general public.

So I am at square one.  And this is the tool that I use. (MINDMAP)

*Sorry it's so small- the text is below (first draft)


       Replicate successful US Land Trust model to protect threatened rice paddies and other unique natural habitats in Bali 

• TO ENSURE THE FUTURE OF BALI'S NATURAL AND HISTORICAL HERITAGE
  
  • Protect the endangered sawah
    
    • Sustainability in perpetuity
    • food safety and security
    • provide transition to Bali's Organic Farming program
      • Acknowledge the reciprocity and dependency of quality based tourism and sawah
        
        • TOURISM dependent on unique Balinese spiritual + physical landscape
          • Economic growth only viable with the quality of tourist, not quantity
    • enable better financial parity in a developing Bali
    • restore best land use practices
    Begin discussion with Balinese for how They envision the future
    
    • How "A Sense of Place" will effect their lives and tourism
    • environmental impact on quality of life issues
  Identify and rate threatened sawah in Ubud regency
  
  • Contiguous plots take priority
    • cooperatives take precedence over everything
  Community outreach to engage farmers + potential developers of sawah
  
  • educate on Land Trust concept
    • gain input from banjar cooperatives  and individuals
  PRELIMINARY - Investigate legality issues for non-profit of this type
  
  • recruit legal team (land use specialty) pro-bono
  • government oversight?
  • insert "moratorium on sawah sales"
  PRELIMINARY- Assess formula for "development rights"
  
  • Real estate team to determine valuation% of Ag use/development rights in current market
  • research documentation of deeds and policy
   
  
  • Partnerships:
    
    • existing social entrepreneurs for synergistic promotion and support
      • reach tourists+expats+yoga community
    ORGANIZATIONAL- Identify skilled individuals-Balinese
    
    • Non-profit expertise/managerial
      project manager
      accountant/CFO
      community organizer for agrarian sector + affiliated persons of interest
      successful organic farmer
      influential people with regency governnment
      ex-pat community members for general volunteerism + recruitment
      land-use policy expert
      Indonesian/English writer+translator
      grant writer
      Communications
      
      • marketing
        • list/serve, newsletter+social media 
          
          • Multimedia
            
            • engage artists,musicians+dancers in process of education+activism
              documentary film
   
  
  •  
    • Identify potential board members
      • international/regional
        • specialized fields
          • influential in Indonesian/Bali agriculture/tourism
  Gather list of US individuals/organizations in existing Land Trusts for on-site  technical assistance,start-up and management advisement
  
  • Vermont Nature Conservancy
  • Vermont Land Trust
    • MAP BUILD-OUT+ HABITAT LOSS
  • Lee Koppelman- NY/US/International Land Use planner- Policy Center at SUNYStonyBrook 
  • Nick Angel- Environmental Lawyer/Asian partnerships
  • Stefan Nagel- Lawyer/ authority on private protection of culturally sensitive areas
  Assess Funding Apparatus
  
  • partnerships
    • environmental,community sustainable agriculture,farmer's markets and local supply chain
      
  • Government: add an additional R200,00 for entry fee to all visitors to  Bali
  • Taxation on all foreign villa sales
  • Dutch funding/grants
  • start up funding: foundations+ grants:Agriculture + Asia
  Timeline + feasibility schedule
  
  Most of the time I just feel like an old Sisyphus .....but there are days like today,when I've networked and made a great contact who will go out of their way to create opportunities/meetings for me to get to the "right" people.
  This week's "right people" are Australian/Balinese land use/real estate attorney and notary. (a notary has a lot of power in administering real estate deals here)
  And the Bupati -Regent, in the context of regional autonomy in Indonesia is the head of the local area for the district . A regents aligned with the mayor , the head of the area for urban areas. Basically, the regents have the duty and authority to lead the implementation of area based policies established with parliament. Regent elected as a pair directly by the people in the local district. Regent is a political position (as proposed by the political parties), and not a Civil Servant . (thanks wikipedia: Indonesia)
  
  happens to be a member of the royal family and I will meet with him next week to go over the vision.  Technical knowledge is one thing- political influence with Jakarta  an imperative  thing especially in Indonesia.  Ubud is in the district of Gianyar, and Cok Ace was the Regent of Gianyar.
  Jakarta RUNS Indonesia. Bali is the cash machine  (3rd in GDP) for Indonesia.  Right after the Oil Industry, located in Kalimantan (Borneo).  Even the President of Indonesia recognizes that if growth is not controlled in Bali, it's unique physical and cultural landscape will erode and the tourists will stop coming to Indonesia (the gateway to Indonesia is BALI)
  Organizations have been formed in the past 6 months to give authoritarian positions on how to proceed.  
  The time may be right.......?
  
  
  So come on this journey with me.....and if you have any ideas or additions that I should add to my MINDMAP (notice the timeline is absent........... please write to me.
  
  
  
  
  p.s.  that was draft 1.... as of April 15-  Draft 4 is being added to to create Draft 5.

travelin' woman