Balinese's Sacred Monkey Forest

In the Balinese Hindu pantheon of Gods and religious ceremonies, no one and nothing misses out on prayers and offerings for their well being.

Cars, motorbikes, books and even monkeys and their animal mates have their turn at the alter of Bali's Hinduism. And it was the monkeys of Padang Tegal's Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud who were the big winners during last Saturday's twice-yearly Tumpek Kandang religious ceremony.

According to the manager of the Sacred Monkey Forest, I Wayan Selamet, the ceremony is for all animals, but the monkeys appear to get the best of it in the free-for-all party of fresh eggs, papaya leaves and fruits served following the ceremony.

Hundreds of monkeys whoop it up during the ceremony, but are surprisingly well behaved, waiting with scarcely concealed excitement for an end to the serious business of chanting and the real festivities to begin.

A few monkeys cannot control themselves and with the speed of pickpockets zoom across the offerings, grabbing at anything that looks edible, but most sit and wait, ready to pounce on eggs when the time is right.

I Wayan Selamet says the ceremony follows the three concepts of Bali's Hinduism, which pays respect to God, man and nature, but it is unclear how devoted the monkeys are to God, they appear much more devoted to eggs.

While the monkeys of the sacred forest appear to be especially favored during the ceremony, Selamet makes it clear that these raucous primates deserve special attention for the economical and environmental benefits they have accidentally brought to the Padang Tegal community.

""The monkey forest is important not only for Ubud and Bali, but I believe for the world. At the moment there are forests being cut down everywhere, but this forest is growing larger. We have recently added another three hectares of plantings and the villagers all take part in protecting the forest,"" Selamet said.

He points out there are few places in the world that have forested land in the city"" with a resident population of monkeys and he says all towns will need this green belt in the future; a place for people to escape the stress of city life and share time with animals in a natural environment.

""Having a forest in cities balances the environment. At the moment the forest is almost 10 hectares and that grows as we change the villages' communal rice paddies to forest,"" explained Selamet.

The forest has grown with the increase in tourism, says Selamet, who remembers the 1970s when the forest was much smaller, ringing the communal rice fields of Padang Tegal. But even then the forest was protected by its sacred status.

""There were always stories about the forest, that if you destroyed it or killed the animals you could never escape. That fear protected the forest and taught people to respect it. At that time most of the community economy was dependent on the rice fields, but as tourism has grown the forest and the monkeys have become the dominant element in our economy.

""It was the stories passed down from earlier generations that have saved the forest and allowed us to now develop it as an environmental and tourism area. It is important for our religion and our economy"" Selamet said.

But, like all valuable land, there are some in the community who, Selamet says, would like to see the forest chopped down and hotels built on the site.

""I often need to point out to people that we don't need to build hotels here. Some people think they could make more money from hotels, but we don't need to do that. The forest and the monkeys are very good for our community economy.

""Yes you can build art shops and hotels anywhere, but you can also build natural forests with their animals, so we need to protect the Sacred Monkey Forest, and other forests and wilderness in Bali and Indonesia, into the future,"" Selamet said. (TheJakartaPost.com)