Bali is the most famous Indonesian island in the country. The island is filled with beautiful sceneries of rice paddies and beaches. There are also many Buddhist Temple in Bali Indonesia. Although Bali is known for its tourists status, the Balinese are actually more conservative. They have their own way of living. Moreover, they also have a specific structure to their society. This article will tell you the Lifestyle in Bali Indonesia. Here, you can read about the Balinese culture, social classes, food and many more.
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1. Culture of Bali
Bali culture is full of arts and all kinds of performances. There are many famous dances known in Bali including the Barong dance, the Legong dance, and the Baris dance. There is even a Monkey Dance in Bali. However, the Barong dance is the most popular traditional dance. It is where a good mythical lion-like creature fights with the queen of all evils and demons.
In Bali, there are also performance of drama such as wayang which is shadow play. There is also traditional performance using Balinese masks. To accompany some of these performances, there are assembles of various music instruments called the gamelan orchestra. The gamelan orchestra consists of flute, drums, angklung, gangsa and many others.
2. Religion in Bali
Indonesia is a country known for having Muslim as the major religion of its people. Despite that, in Bali there are actually more Hindus than Muslims. Most Balinese are Hindus with a small amount of Christians and Buddhists. The Hinduism in Bali is similar to the Hinduism in India.
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In their faith, the Balinese believe in the balance of the world. They believe that they have to maintain both forces of good and evil. That is one of the main reasons why they always give offerings not only to the gods but also to the demons. The Balinese are big believer in the supernatural forces, spirits and the divines.
3. Social Classes in Bali
The Balinese have specific grouping for their social classes. Their people are divided into different castes. There are four known castes among the Balinese. These are the Brahmana, Satria, Wesia and Sudra. The people in the higher caste are treated with higher respect.
An example of that is when someone that belongs into the lower caste is talking to someone that was born from a high caste. The person with lower status must bow to the one with a higher position. The teenagers of the opposite sex of the different castes can only talk to each other when there are other people around them.
4. Family Classes in Bali
People from different castes can now marry each other. However, the wife will follow the husband’s caste. Many of the recently married couple live with their parents until they are able to find a home and live on their own. But there must always be a son in the house to take care of the aging parents.
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In the family structure, the wife has the role of cooking, washing, buying things at the market and take care of the offerings. The husband has to work, join preparation for feasts, attend cockfight matches and contribute to playing an instrument in the orchestra.
5. Clothing in Bali
Outside of their homes, Balinese wear common, modern clothes. But once they are at home, they change into a more traditional clothing. At home, the men wear tank tops and shorts. They might also wear sarongs. For formal wear, the mean use a different type of sarong which is called kamben which is wrapped around the waist. Furthermore, they would wear endek cloth which is tenun, an Indonesian Ikat Fabric. For the women, the would also wear sarong at home or other kinds of homewear clothing. For formal wear, they would wear a sash or a belt that goes up to their armpits.
6. Behaviour in Bali
Balinese are known to be very polite. They are friendly and considerate to everyone they meet. They do not like to cause conflict or commotion because ever since they were kids, they were taught to be in harmony with their surroundings. The little Balinese children are also very polite. They play with the other children in the same age group without causing too many problems. They rarely shouts and fight with each other.
Moreover, Balinese are very respectful when being spoken to. Balinese follow through the Social Etiquette in Bali. They listen carefully to everything you say and give a humble reply of nggih which means yes when they agree with what you say.
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7. Work in Bali
Since Bali has turned into a tourist paradise, most of its people work within the tourist industry. The Balinese work as guides, in hotels, in craft shops or as taxi drivers. Other Balinese may prefer to work in factories. There are many clothing and garment factories in Bali. Other factories where the Balinese work at include cigarette and coffee factories.
Despite all that, there is still a high percentage of Balinese who earn a living by working in agriculture. They still work at farming and growing crops such as rice, cassava, corn and beans. If they do not have a farm or field to work on, they they work at someone else’s field.
8. Food in Bali
The food that Balinese eat is almost the same as any other food in Indonesia. There are actually many Famous Local Food in Bali. Their meals consist mostly of rice, vegetable and proteins such as chickens, tofu, fish or tempeh. They are also fond of chilli sauces freshly made each day.
Their ceremonial feasts are rather unique. They eat bats, turtles and whole pigs that are seasoned with a lot of spices and young grated coconut. The most famous Traditional Meal in Bali is Bebek Betutu which consists of a whole duck cooked inside a banana leaf.
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The western style of life may have affected a bit of the Balinese. However, the Balinese never forget their root. They are always humble in their way of living because deep in their hearts they know that they will always uphold the Bali culture and values.
