BALI CULTURE
Balinese culture is a mix of Balinese Hindu-Buddhist religion and Balinese customs. It is perhaps most known for its dance, drama and sculpture.
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.
According to Mexican art historian José Miguel Covarrubias, works of art made by amateur Balinese artists are regarded as a form of spiritual offering, and therefore these artists do not care about recognition of their works.
Balinese artists are also skilled in duplicating art works such as carvings that resemble Chinese deities or decorating vehicles based on what is seen in foreign magazines.
The culture is noted for its use of the gamelan in music and in various traditional events of Balinese society. Each type of music is designated for a specific type of event.
For example, music for a piodalan (birthday celebration) is different from music used for a metatah (teeth grinding) ceremony, just as it is for weddings, Ngaben (cremation of the dead ceremony), Melasti (purification ritual) and so forth.
The diverse types of gamelan are also specified according to the different types of dance in Bali.
According to Walter Spies, the art of dancing is an integral part of Balinese life as well as an endless critical element in a series of ceremonies or for personal interests.
Traditionally, displaying of female breasts is not regarded as immodest. Balinese women can often be seen with bared chests; however, a display of the thigh is considered immodest.
In modern Bali these customs are normally not strictly observed, but visitors visiting Balinese temples are advised to cover their legs.
