Heaven? Here it is! (Part 1)
When I woke up on my first day in Bali on Tuesday, 7 June 2022, little did I know that it would be the “best day of my life”. However, anticipating more such days in the future, let’s just call it “one of the best days of my life”.
Many people might already know that Bali is a majority Hindu island. Luckily, it was the day before Galungan, the biggest Hindu festival in Bali. This day is known as Penampahan and this is when pigs or chickens are slaughtered and preparations are made for the upcoming ceremonies. The entire island was off work and getting ready for the big celebrations ahead. The festival celebrates the victory of dharma (righteousness) over adharma (unrighteousness).
The festival is something similar to the Mexican holiday “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead) and it is believed that on this day the spirits of dead ancestors and relatives come to visit their former homes and it is the duty of the current inhabitants to be hospitable to them. The ceremonies continue for 10 days and end with Kuningan, the day when the spirits of the dead return to Heaven.
After a dip in the ocean at the serene Sanur beach where the water was as silent as a swimming pool, I quickly returned to my room and got ready, as the amazing Balinese couple Citra and Bayu were going to come to pick me up. I first met both of them about a year ago during the online Arctic Knot Conference 2021 where they talked about their community’s work around transcribing Balinese manuscripts. I was not expecting them to come to pick me up from the airport last night either. Today, we were going to Citra’s maternal house where we were going to have a sumptuous meal, at least that’s what I was promised. They did ask me if I ate pork or not and I told them what I tell everyone, “I eat everything!”.
Navigating customs is difficult, more so after the Delta wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. So, I wasn’t sure whether to hug or shake hands, both of which I prefer. I decided to go with the non-controversial and non-contact folded hands Indian greeting of Namaste, along with the Balinese greeting Om Swastiastu.
As we left Denpasar city, on our way to Semarapura town of the Klungkung regency, the beauty of the morning beach started getting duller in comparison to the landscape I was witnessing. Looking at this immense beauty but also being mindful of the fact that Bali is a very famous tourist spot, I asked my companions about the state of the environment on the island. That’s when Bayu told me about the traditional Balinese philosophy Tri Hita Karana, which are the three reasons or causes for a happy and prosperous life:
- Harmony with God
- Harmony among people
- Harmony with nature or environment
But he also acknowledged that things are rapidly changing now. Plastic and plastic everywhere. The government tries but the people’s values have changed.
Our first stop was the Klungkung Palace. No ticket was needed to enter the premises but I had to dress accordingly. Bayu helped me tie the Kamben (similar to a Dhoti or a Chaadra) along with an overlay called the Saput and a head covering called Udeng or Dastar. Upon entering I saw the remnants of the palace including the Kertha Gosa pavilion, which served as the court of law at one point. Large parts of the palace were destroyed during the Dutch colonial conquest.
The ceiling of one of the remaining buildings had elaborate paintings about the journey of the Hindu epic Mahabharata’s character Bhima to the “Swarga” (Heaven), which interestingly is nowhere to be found in the Mahabharata version that we Indians are familiar with. According to this local legend, Bhima goes to Heaven to rescue his father and his stepmother and ends up dying while fighting the deities. In the end, he is brought back to life by the supreme God.
Afterward, we went to Citra’s maternal house, where an elaborate feast was prepared. That’s what they do a day before Galungan. There were four types of pork dishes and four types of veggies. We had a wholesome meal, eating the rice and meat with our bare heads, just like people in many parts of India do. Not in Punjab though, Punjabis usually eat rice with a spoon but I have come to enjoy it with my hands in recent years.
As the meal ended, Citra got busy with the preparations for the next day’s ceremonies. Bayu and I hopped in his car to go to a village in the mountain to meet his friend Le Pang. The beautiful scenery forced me to ask Bayu to stop the car so that I could take a few photographs. That’s when I learned from Bayu about Hindu graves in Bali. I was astonished! Coming from a country that houses more than a billion Hindus, this was very surprising to hear. I got to learn about the death ceremony called Ngaben, which is too expensive. So, common people bury the dead and every five years perform ceremonies for all the people who died during that time, collectively as a village.
We marched on our way to Bayu’s friend’s home after the brief halt and soon we left the paddy fields behind and enter a narrow street with only enough space to let two cars pass each other. We managed to find a parking spot near Le Pang’s house. While walking towards his house, I could see the entire street filled with Penjor poles, a symbol of prosperity installed outside the houses for Galungan. Upon entering, I was welcomed by many cages with different birds. I learnt that most Balinese households have birds and they usually catch these birds in the fields themselves.
After many photographs of this Sunda scops owl and even getting it to sit on my wrist, Bayu, Le Pang, and I sat down to have a cup of tea. It was barely noon but Le Pang was ready to treat his guests with the famous homemade liquor, “Arak Bali” and the palm-based wine named “Tuak Manis” along with a savory snack the name of which I forgot to ask.
There was just one tiny cup for Arak and one glass tumbler for Tuak. I was expecting to drink as we do with whiskey. That’s when I was told that the Balinese way to drink is to pour the liquor to one person, they chug it in one go, and then it is poured for the second person in the same tumbler. When I told my father about this, I learned that that’s the typical Punjabi way of drinking as well.
As we started drinking, Le Pang started sharing about his work as a Penyuluh Bahasa Bali and his job not only focuses on teaching the Balinese language to villagers but also cataloging the manuscripts and manuscript owners in the different villages in his jurisdiction. He went on to show me some of the manuscripts in his personal collection as well. We started talking about Balinese culture and I prodded them to talk about Balinese masks which I had recently seen at the National Museum of Indonesia. Interestingly, Le Pang himself was an amateur actor and he quickly went inside to bring all his masks. He told me that each mask is a different character and then he demonstrated it for me.
Soon, Le Pang’s brother joined the party. He is a musician and told me how inspired he is by Indian classical music. Then we brought his drums and flutes and started entertaining us.
I was overwhelmed with emotions and felt lucky to be there at that moment. I expressed my gratitude to Bayu for bringing me to that place and Le Pang for his hospitality. That’s when they taught me the phrase, “Swargan? Ne San Ba Ya!” which translates as “Heaven? Here it is!” and it reminded me of the Farsi couplet by famous Sufi poet Amir Khusrau:
Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.
If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this.
This was the first part of the photo essay series “Heaven? Here it is!”. Read the second part here.
