Bali is Unique

9 min readNov 23, 2020

Bali is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second-largest, after Makassar, in Eastern Indonesia. Bali is Indonesia’s main tourist destination, with a significant rise in tourism since the 1980s.Tourism-related business makes up 80% of its economy.

Bali is the only Hindu-majority province in Indonesia, with 82.5% of the population adhering to Balinese Hinduism. It is also renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali. Other international events held in Bali include the Miss World 2013 and 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. In March 2017, TripAdvisor named Bali as the world’s top destination in its Traveler’s Choice award.

Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species especially fish and turtles. In this area alone, over 500 reef-building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about seven times as many as in the entire Caribbean. Bali is the home of the Subak irrigation system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also home to a unified confederation of kingdoms composed of 10 traditional royal Balinese houses, each house ruling a specific geographic area. The confederation is the successor of the Bali Kingdom. The royal houses are not recognized by the government of Indonesia; however, they originated before Dutch colonization.

geography

The island of Bali lies 3.2 km (2.0 mi) east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km (95 mi) wide and spans approximately 112 km (70 mi) north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2 (2,230 sq mi), or 5,577 km2 (2,153 sq mi) without Nusa Penida District; its population density is roughly 750 people/km2 (1,900 people/sq mi).

Bali’s central mountains include several peaks over 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) in elevation and active volcanoes such as Mount Batur. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m, 9,944 ft), known as the “mother mountain”, which is an active volcano rated as one of the world’s most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. In late 2017 Mount Agung started erupting and large numbers of people were evacuated, temporarily closing the island’s airport. Mountains range from Centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali’s volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali’s large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee-producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km (47 mi) The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.

The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali’s second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar’s urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island’s cultural centre.

Three small islands lie to the immediate south-east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.

To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan realm and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.

source : wikipedia

culture

Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.

one of the most characteristic dance is

baris dance

The culture of dancing has become an inseparable part of Balinese life. Dance does not only function as entertainment, but is complementary in various religious rituals and some are even positioned as the ritual itself. Among the dances that exist in Balinese life, there is one type of dance that is identical to male dance, namely the line dance. This dance is usually the first dance taught to every boy in Bali before they grow up.

According to historical records, line dance is thought to have existed in the mid-16th century. This assumption is based on the information contained in the Sundanese Song, which is thought to have originated in 1550 AD. In the manuscript, there is information about the existence of seven types of dance lines that are performed at cremation ceremonies in East Java.

In addition, there is also information that at the beginning of its appearance, the line dance was part of the religious rituals at that time. The type of dance that is related to religious rituals is called the ceremonial line dance or the line dance of gede. This type of line dance is performed in groups by eight to 40 people, with various complementary knick-knacks in the form of traditional weapons that vary depending on the region of each dance.

During its development, around the 19th century, a new variant of the line dance emerged, namely the single line dance. Single line dance is a non-sacred dance that is performed as folk entertainment. Single line dance is performed by 1–2 dancers and is characterized by the dancer’s more energetic movements and more colorful clothing.

Visually, line dance can be characterized by the clothes the dancers wear. The dancers, all of whom are male, wear triangular crowns decorated with seashells that line vertically at the top. In addition, the dancer’s body is wrapped in colorful costumes that look loose, dangling down, and resting on the shoulders. This costume or outfit will expand when the dancer performs a circular motion with one leg, giving a dramatic effect in the choreography that is delivered.

The movements in the line dance tell of the toughness of Balinese soldiers in the past. The dancer’s shoulders are raised almost at ear level. The arms are almost always in a horizontal position with a firm motion. Another distinctive motion in the line dance is the seledet or the dancer’s eye delicacy which is always changing. This movement describes the nature of the soldiers who are always aware of the situation around them.

balinese gambelan

Gamelan has been synonymous with Javanese culture. However, on the Island of the Gods, Bali, it turns out that this musical instrument is also a part of this unique island art which is famous for its beauty.

Gamelan or in Bali known as gambelan is commonly used in traditional ritual processions such as death ceremonies which we know as the Ngaben tradition. Meanwhile, for human ceremonies, gender is used and for ceremonies in temples, gong gede is usually used.

In terms of the development of time, Balinese gamelan can be divided into 3 types, namely, gamelan wayah, this old type of gamelan is thought to have existed before the XV century. This gamelan is generally dominated by keys in the form of keys and does not use drums.

The second type is the gamelan madya. This gamalan comes from around the XVI-XIX century. In this era, the barungan gamelan already used drums and instruments with a bell (pencon). In this barungan, drums have started to play a role in a show

Lastly is the new gamelan. This gamelan includes a new type of group, which includes the types of gamelan barungan that emerged in the XX century. This gamelan barungan appears in one of the most prominent features, namely in the game of drums

bali most popular tourist destination

Why is Bali famous for tourism?

Beyond stunning beaches and magical temples, Bali has virtually every kind of natural beauty. Glorious mountainous areas with lush greenery, scenic lakes, gorgeous waterfalls, iconic rice fields, flower gardens, gushing sacred rivers and secret canyons all make up the island’s landscape

UBUD

Ubud is majestic royal palaces, and green hillsides and rice terraces. A treasure trove of cultural landmarks, this Balinese town and its outskirts within the Gianyar regency, are where some of the world’s notable artisans and collectors have visited and worked in.

Most of the local museums and galleries are along the main Jalan Raya Ubud. There are plenty of natural landscapes and attractions that are within a short drive outside the town centre. Prominent and unmissable landmarks in Ubud include Ubud Monkey Forest and the photogenic Tegallalang rice terrace.

rice terrace tegalalang

Address: Jl. Raya Tegallalang, Tegallalang, Kec. Tegallalang, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80561

Tanah Lot Temple

Tanah Lot is a rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home to the ancient Hindu pilgrimage temple Pura Tanah Lot, a popular tourist and cultural icon for photography

Pura Tanah Lot was built at the beginning of the 16th century and is thought to be inspired by the priest Nirartha, who asked local fishermen to build a temple here after spending the night on the rock outcrop.

Although foreigners can’t enter any of the temples, you can walk across to the main temple at low tide, and it’s fun to wander along the paths taking photos and soaking up the magnificent setting.

Address: Beraban, Kediri, Tabanan Regency, Bali 82121

Hours:Open ⋅ Closes 7PM

KUTA

Kuta is a beach and resort area in the south of the island of Bali, Indonesia. One of Bali’s first tourist developments, it’s best known for its party-centric atmosphere and surfing in the Indian Ocean. Kuta’s long, consistent waves make it a popular surf spot, particularly for beginners, with plenty of outfitters offering board rentals and surf lessons.