Bali woos Indian tourists this autumn

The blossoms of the Indonesian island of Bali will add fragrance to the holiday itineraries of several Indians this festival season. With the number of Indian footfalls growing in the island every year, officials of Indonesia's culture and tourism ministry, the Bali tourism industry and the Bali chapter of the Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA) all expect the number to cross the 22,000 mark in 2008.

At the close of 2007, the number of Indian visitors to Bali stood at 21,909, up 71.27 percent from the previous year, said a communiqué issued here Friday by the Indonesian culture and tourism ministry.

There has been a steady increase in Indian arrivals to the exotic island. In 2003, the number of Indians who visited Bali was a mere 4,554. The subsequent year, the number logged a quantum jump of 42.03 per cent to 6,468 and in 2006, it was 12.792 per cent.

The ministry, which is hard-selling the island as a preferred destination to Indian tourists this year, held a colorful cultural roadshow Friday.

The highlight of the marketing show was a traditional dance performance which opened with the Sekar Jagat dance - Sekar in Balinese means flowers and Jagat means the world. Like other welcoming dances, the Sekar Jagat dancers bring flowers with them, which combined along with hand movement, make the flowers come alive. The dancers move in a circle, which is beautiful when seen from above.

It was followed by the religious Topend Tua dance, which tells the story of a grandfather. The dancer illustrates to the audience that as we age someday into old men and women, one of our senses would not work perfectly any longer. The eyes lose power of sight, the hair changes colour and the body emaciates.

The show ended with the Cendrawasih dance, which is woven around the scarce fauna found in the Irian Jaya (Papua) island.

This dance has a green message - it tells the viewers how to protect the environment - through the movements of the playful Cendrawasih bird. The bird is red in colour and attire and winged formations of the dancers make the dance lyrical.

Bali, which was nominated the world's best island by the International Travel Magazine, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Nestled in the Indonesian archipelago, with a rich tropical wildlife and exotic cultures, it attracts tourists from across the continents.

This year, it hopes to draw at least two million foreign tourists by the year end.

“Interestingly, Balinese is still as rich as it was though it is growing along with globalisation. The Balinese culture has always been related to 'Tri Hita Karana' or a tripartite concept that includes spiritual relationship between humans, gods and environment.

"Owing to many similarities between Bali and India and influence of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata on the lives of the people in Bali and India, the two places have shared an emotional bond,” the statement issued by the ministry said.

Bali, one of the 17,000-odd islands in Indonesian archipelago, was an old spice trade centre dealing in pepper, cloves, nutmegs, vanilla and cinnamon. India last year ranked 14th in terms of foreign tourists visiting Bali.

via NDTVTravels

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)

Indonesian President witnesses mass cremation in Bali

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono attended a mass cremation procession of 139 Balinese people, at Batur village, Bangli district, around 60 km east of Denpasar, on Wednesday.

The cremated remains included those belonging to Guru Nyoman Santi, the father of Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik.

Guru Nyoman Santi, who died at 94 years old, around 1.5 year ago, was one of the country's freedom fighters.

The first mass cremation was held in Bali in 1963 at the initiative of Nyoman Santi and his colleagues. It is for the first time that a mass cremation Hindu ritual was attended by Indonesia's head of state. (The Jakarta Post Newspaper article)