Ngrupuk ( Ogoh Ogoh ) sacred day

Ngrupuk Day ( Ogoh Ogoh ) 

One day before Nyepi ( Silent day ) is Ngrupuk Day, at that time there will be a lot of Ogoh ogoh ( giant monster effigies) around all street in Bali.

To welcome Nyepi Day ( Silent day ) on March 12th, 2013 , almost each village or district made Ogoh Ogoh. They will be parade them after the ceremony " Mecaru " and make offerings / trats to the Bhuta Kala to return to the place each home and don't interfere with people's lives.

Actually parade ogoh-ogoh is the appreciation of a work of art that is not mandatory. At first when pe-ngrupukan day Balinese Hindus, just by carrying the torch from bamboo with kerosene or prakpak ( the d palm leaves that have been dried ) and then burned, when sandikala ( dusk ) arrived after sunset with friends from the neighborhood, equipped with sounds such as drums , tin cans, kitchen utensils, just whatever it is that makes noises / noise, bring onion-rubbing, rubbing at the corners of the house and temple / corrected and spread rice tawur, after new home to the streets, joined by residents other.

Derived from the torch relay seems people began to develop their creativity and there ogoh-ogoh are today. Ogoh-ogoh is a symbol rather than bhuta kala, which is often symbolized by a hideous face, as rangda celuluk, the story of an evil puppet, and a lot of symbol ogoh-ogoh that appear are like social critique, and other forms of unique. For the tourist areas as the parade lasted a matter of interesting spectacle for tourists, as well as by local residents. However the implementation of the ceremony or Mabuu-buu in Ngerupuk in order not to deviate from the true meaning. It seems like if at the time of the day you plan to travel tour filled holiday in Bali, journey through password controlled so that when (after sunset), because some streets will be closed.

Bali Shopping Strategies

Shopping Strategies 

Getting the good stuff and getting it home ( see Cargo Agents and Courier Services or call your driver to help arrange it ) does require strategy. Literally speaking, antique shopping in Bali can be as steamy and unpleasant as a jungle, and almost as dangerous (to your pride and your pocketbook, not to your person). So follow a few sensible shopping rules  to make the experience as pleasant and successful as possible:

Start early in the day. It can get unbearably hot in Bali, and most antique shops are not air-conditioned or well ventilated. Plan to be on the road shopping by 9am. Keeping comfort in mind, it's best to shop in the cool season ( June to October ). Season don't affect the supply of goods out there, or their prices. There aren't seasonal patterns or sales, so you might as well plan to shop for antiques in Bali during the best season to be there.

Stick to one antiques shopping area at a time. Otherwise, you'll tire yourself out with all the driving. Distances in Bali are deceptive in that they can take a lot more time to cover than you might predict because of bad traffic and bad roads.

Take frequent breaks to eat, drink and think. We've organized this section by areas so you can consult the corresponding shopping area section for the best places to stop, refresh yourself, reorganize and review what you've seen. For example if antique hunting along the Seminyak strip, check shopping areas: Seminyak for the nearest place to eat, have a swim at the beach or a foot massage. This idea is to have a pleasant excursion, not an ordeal.

Source from SHOPSMART BALI & LOMBOK

Important places to see in Bali

There's eleven places you must see in Bali with driver in bali


Bali is possibly one of the most enchanting island on earth. One of more than 13.000 islands in Indonesia, and Bali is revered as one of the world's most popular and interesting tourist destination.

Some quick facts: Bali covers an area of 5620 km2, about 140 km from West to East and 80 km from the South to North. The South part consists of lime stone with beautiful soft white sand along the beach, while the East, West and North are mostly volcanic layers with black soft sand beach.

Bali has a tropical climate with the average temperature of about 30 degrees C (80 degrees F) all year. It has only 2 seasons, dry season started from April to October and wet season from October to April. It is always nice and cool in the hillside while though hot around the coastal area but there are still nice breeze all the time. The dry season is always sunny with great view of sunset and sunrise, while the wet season is not too wet because there is still much sun to enjoy during the day time.

Here are eleven things one must see if you are in Bali.

• Barong Dance – This is approx. 1 hour long religious dance representing the eternal fight between the good - Barong and the evil symbolized by a horrible looking witch called Rangda. The costumes and set are elaborate and nice. The trick is to get there early, so that you get front seats and be close enough to see the facial expressions of the dancers 

• Celuk (Gold & silver smith), Mas (wood carving) and Stone carving villages - You would drive past these 3 villages and see the array of shops selling the gold, wood and stone. As you get into Celuk, all the gold and silver smith shops flank the roads, you can also drop by their factory to take a look at the production process. The same goes for the wood carving and stone carving 

• Mount Batur (Kintamani) – This is the second largest active volcano in Bali. It is 1,717 meters from sea level, and bears the remains of the black lava from it's eruption in 1917 and 1927. There is a nice scenic crater lake there. You can do buffet lunch at one of the restaurant and admire the breath-taking view as you eat. The buffet lunch cost about S$10 and has reasonable spread 

• Trita Empul  - Tirta Empul means " bubbling water " and is a holy water temple built in 960 AD. The temple is beautiful temple and has holy water fountains for different purposes of purification and blessing. There were people in the fountains doing their purification when I was there. Further inside the temple area, you can see the source of the water – a spring where water is bubbling up through the black sand. A total make of nature. Legend has it that one of the gods shot an arrow from heaven to look for water, and the spot where the water is bubbling up now is the exact spot where the arrow hit 

• Goa Gajah – Means "elephant cave". Found in 11th century, this cave was dug in the peaceful riverside valley in a hard sand stone. Entering the inside T-Shape cave, there are some niches used by Buddhist Monks for meditation. Among the many historical remains found around this cave is the holy Ganesh Statue (a human body with elephant head) which is believed as the God of Purification and Evil Controller. The cave can be quite claustrophobic for some people but is well worth a quick look inside 

• Holy Spring Temple  - Is named " Gunung Kawi " in Balinese. It is a very beautiful village temple located in a peaceful valley with its holy spring. Somewhat similar to Trita Empul, there are large fountains outside the temple area, where villagers use to take a bath. However, this place is not as ‘holy' as Trita Empul 

• Taman Ayun - Is the largest Royal Family Temple Complex built in 1934 in the village of Mengwi, Badung Regency. The area of this temple is surrounded by moat with some water lilies and lotuses. The place is still used during prayer sessions and important ceremonial events 

• Tanah Lot – One of the most famed temple in Bali. Tanah Lot means " the land of ocean" is a fascinating Hindu Temple built on a piece of cliff in Indian Ocean shore. This temple is dedicated to the God of Ocean "Baruna" built by a high Hindu Priest name Dang Hyang Dwijendra in the 16th century. During high tide, the cliff is surrounded by water and the temple looks like it is floating. In the bottom part of the cliff there is a fresh water holy spring while on the beach cave there are some holy snakes that guard the temple. In the South and North part of the temple is absolutely beautiful view and best for watching sunset 

• Uluwatu Temple - Also built by the same Hindu Priest who built Tanah Lot, Uluwatu temple is also another magnificent temple built perched on a cliff. The whole temple stretches across a large area and it is flanked by the fabulous India Ocean. Here, you also see large numbers of monkeys, mostly mischievous ones, who snatches food from visitors 

• Lake Beratan & Pura Ulun Danu - Beratan is a name of the Lake and Village. There is a spectacular floating temple called "Ulun Danu Temple" and is an absolutely interesting sight. The weather at the lake is cool, which is a nice break from the mostly hot sun during my trip. There were people who hired a traditional paddle boat or speed boat to go around the lake, although my driver said there really is nothing much to see around the lake 

• Jatiluwih – A place where you see lots of terraced rice paddy fields. The sights are breathtaking as you see the green terrace, meandering around you. This place is supposed to one of the few in the world that has such nice terraced paddies. Those terraces are probably cut decades ago, and now resulting in the fascinating view today

Art of Painting

Ubud Painting styles

Until the start of the 20th century, the dominant form of painting was the portrayal of Hindu epics by painters and illustrators called 'Sangging'. Aside from making large reprentational paintings, the 'Sangging were expected to decorate everything from gourds, wooden altars, bamboo vessels, headboards for princely bed chambers and in particular, there were expected to illustrate astrological wall hangings on bank paper or cloth. It wasn't until the early 1900s that western influences reached Bali. The use of Asian symbols in the works of among others, Paul Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec and Camille Pissaro, created a new trend for Asian influenced art and for European painters to move to Bali. Ubud's fame regarding art can be traced down to the arrival of the German painter Walter Spies and the Dutch Rudolf Bonnet.
There now is a wide range of different styles!

Dance Painting

Ubud Style
Influenced by the western use of perspective and everyday life subject matter, the Ubud style is one of the most 'expressionistic' of all Bali's scools. Despite this, Ubud's art still retains many traditional features, including attention to detail and stylish characters.

Batuan Style
Strongly wayang based (puppet). This style involves hundreds of intricately panted representations of Balinese life, filling every available nook and cranny of the canvas.

Keliki Style.
Keliki paintings measure 20cm by 15cm. They contain scenes of mythical and Ramayanic caracters engaged in battle, good versus evil, on sinister backgrounds.

Pengosekan Style
From this village, on the outskirts of Ubud, a new style sprang up during the 1960s. It concentrated on just a few natural components, such as birds, insects, butterflies and plants.



Source by Bali - Plus

Shopping

Bali is wonderful place for shopping.

Wood Carving 

Bali has handicrafts galore, but at the same time is a paradise for modern artworks collectors. Hand carved wooden statues and screens, silver work, hand woven and painted cottons and silks, embroidery, shell ornaments, basketry, sandstone statues, and painted wooden or bamboo furniture can be found everywhere. It's just up to you to find them all.

Parts of the Kuta region are door to door shops and over the years these shops have steadily become more sophisticated. But there are still many simple stalls, where t-shirt, souvenirs and beachwear are the main lines, and where the price depends on your bargaining ability. Many of these stalls are crowded together in art markets like the one near the beach and of Jalan Bakung Sari and are well worth a visit.

Kuta shops sell arts and crafts from almost every part of the island. There's a good selection of quality craft shops on Jalan Legian, between Poppies Gang II and Jalan Padma.

The bigger, Western style stores generally have higher quality goods. Jalan Legian is lined with shops, and although there are exceptions, the quality generally gets better as you head north to Seminyak. North of Jalan Dhyana Pura, there are numerous shops selling artworks, housewares, furniture and other designer goods aimed at helping you create your own Bali Style at home.

When travelling to the mountain areas of Bali or the east coast of the island, you may pass through Pasar Seni Sukawati and Pasar seni Guwang, often dubbed as the best place to shop in Bali. It is a maze of alleyways with a massive array of artifacts, paintings, fabrics, and clothing all crammed together so tight is sometimes difficult to weave your way through it all. Other goods for sale include sarongs, light blankets, and lengths of ikat cloth. Here, bargaining is a must and great fun with the super friendly vendors. The best time to visit this vibrant market is before 10AM, because after that, the busloads of tourists arrive and it gets pretty busy in there.

Pasar Seni Sukawati - Gianyar Bali

Denpasar's markets are vast and have a good reason for you to visit. Pasar Badung, for instance, is a traditional 'Wet' market, and is the largest and oldest in Bali. Pasar Kumbasari, along the opposite side of the river from Pasar Badung, has handicrafts, fabrics and gold work.

If you want to hunt for high quality, handcrafted ceramic and glassware, Jenggala Keramik in Jimbaran is worth to visit. You can find an extensive range of ceramics and household accessories with exclusive designs used by leading hotels, restaurants, and decorators worldwide.

Ubud has a huge variety of quality art shops, boutiques and galleries. The euphemistically named Pasar Seni sells a wide range of clothing, sarongs, footwear and souvenirs of variable quality at negotiable prices. And also there's many gallery with the original painting and famous painter. More interesting is Ubud's colorful produce market, which operates to a greater or lesser extent every day.

Art & Religion

Bali art and religion

The Balinese have always connected art with worship, Hindu myths such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata are the main subjects of traditional paintings, carvings and even wayang kulit (shadow puppetry).

Bali  Festival and Ceremony 

Unlike the rest of Indonesia's mainly Muslim population, which includes Lombok's 2.3 million inhabitants, the 3 million strong Balinese are predominantly Hindu. Although the basic tenets are similar, this is not the same version of Hinduism as that found in India. Balinese Hinduism is mixed with ancient animistic beliefs and some aspects of Buddhism. The supreme being or God, Ida Sanghyang Widi Wasa, has a triple identity comprising of Brahma, Wisnu, and Siwa.

The Balinese are often accused of worshipping many gods and this arises from a misunderstanding of the words dewa and dewi which are often translated as " God " and " Goodness". It is probably easier to think of the various dewa and dewi as the equivalent of Christian saints, archangels or, in some cases, devils. In addition to the high ranking deities, there are also many lower level spirits, bhuta kala, whose needs have to be taken into account to prevent them from making trouble. Art in all its forms is seen as a way of pleasing God and the deities and because of this great care has traditionally been taken in all arts and crafts.