Balinese
The Balinese are the ethnic and cultural group inhabiting the island of Bali in Indonesia in the Indian Ocean east of Java. Though like other Indonesians they are primarily of Malay ancestry, the Balinese are distinguished by their Hindu religion and culture, dating from before the tenth century. Historically the Balinese were associated with the classical kingdoms of Java. The Majapahit court was the center of the Majapahit empire (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries), the Hindu-Javanese civilization that united much of today's Indonesia. In many respects, today's Balinese culture can be thought of as a fossilized version of Majapahit culture, which had moved to Bali in the fifteenth century. Bali was later divided into several small kingdoms.
The origins of the Balinese are uncertain; the earliest remains of their civilization are stone carvings of the ninth century, but it is thought that the Balinese as an ethnic group are much older. A small group, the Bali Aga (Old Balinese), are thought to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the island.
Balinese society was not significantly influenced by Hindu-Javanese culture. Dutch colonial control over the island was not established until 1908 and had little impact on local culture. The Balinese still retain their distinctive identity in independent Indonesia.
There are about 2.9 million Balinese in Bali. They speak Balinese, an Austronesian language. Balinese has three levels, in reality different languages, depending on the social status of the speaker and listener. Balinese have a strong awareness of space, using the mountains and sea to orient themselves. The position of the mountains and sea, as well as the four cardinal directions, determines the siting of buildings and the direction for sleeping. Balinese believe that their island, and particularly the volcano Gunung Agung, is the center of the world.
Balinese practice their own variation of Hinduism, which pervades all aspects of their culture. Ritual and ceremony are important parts of everyday life. There are many rites of passage, beginning with birth and ending with death; the dead are always cremated. Trances and cockfights are also important social functions. Balinese have a rich artistic tradition stemming from their religious beliefs. Among the most important Balinese arts are batik and ikat textiles, masks and other forms of wood carving, stone sculptures, gamelan music, and a rich literary and dance tradition.
The Balinese are traditionally divided into the four Hindu castes of Brahman (priests and scholars), Kshatriya (warriors and nobles), Weisya (merchants), and Sudra (farmers and laborers), but the caste system in Bali is not as rigid as that of India. More than 90 percent of Balinese belong to the Sudra caste. The family is the basic unit of Balinese life, and a family, or close group of families, lives together in a compound of houses, surrounded by a wall. The banjar, or ward, is the next largest social unit. The desa, or village, consists of a group of banjars. An additional organization is the subak, a farmers' society.
Balinese are primarily an agrarian people, though tourism has become increasingly important as a source of income. Today Bali and the Balinese themselves are objects of tourism. Balinese have adapted well to the presence of tourists, and tourism has in some respects helped to preserve and revive aspects of local culture, while exposing the Balinese to global influences.
Further Reading
Barth, Fredrik. (1993) Balinese Worlds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Belo, Jane, ed. (1970) Traditional Balinese Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
Covarrubias, Miguel. ([1937] 1974) Island of Bali. Reprint ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Picard, Michel. (1996) Bali: Cultural Tourism and Touristic Culture. Trans. by Diana Darling. Singapore: Archipelago.
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