The first thing that everyone notices when travelling around Bali is the preponderance of statues of all kinds and sizes, from the beautiful to the grotesque to the ordinary. Statues representing the whole pantheon of Hindu gods, entire incidents from the Mahabharata, statues of spirits or ‘bhutas’, serene statues of the Buddha, those of mythical beasts, even statues of Komodo dragons, frogs, and rabbits are found in the middle of streets, in front of houses and shops, in the gardens of resorts, all around temples and shrines, made out of concrete, cement, lava, limestone or greenstone and some painted in vivid colours.
It appears that the statues are not decorations as they have flowers placed all over and before them, have black, white and gray checkered sarongs tied around some of them and offerings in palm leaf baskets placed before them. The colours of the sarongs apparently denote good (white), evil (black) and gray is where the two are balanced. These devotional gifts of rice and other food, flowers and joss sticks are placed before the statues in neatly woven baskets which are replaced several times a day. The making of these offerings seems to be a cottage industry as both men and women are kept busy the whole day putting the baskets together.
The offerings are to appease deities and spirits which the statues represent and to show gratitude for the good fortune enjoyed by the people of Bali. Prior to placing new gifts the previous day’s offerings are swept away and the area scrubbed clean. The Hindu religion plays a prominent role in Balinese society and while seeking harmony between man and nature the Balinese also look to their gods, goddesses, spirits and ‘Barongs’ to keep them from harm. The statues are also a constant reminder to them to adhere to Hindu beliefs and practices. Whatever the reason they make an exotic addition to the cultural landscape of the island.
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