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Indonesia - Bali is all about ?
Now
the elders, five in number, come forward and stand in
a row in their gorgeous drooping head-cloths. Before
them a man exultantly krisses himself. The holy woman
is led down and stands before the elders, saluting each
in turn. The Guardian with the great Semitic nose walks
briskly forward, swinging his arms, and circles in front
of the priestess and the elders, krissing himself.
Four huge spears are brought out, black with silver
bands. The priestess and three men grasp them and dance
slowly in two pairs, crossing each other with slanting
spears. This is the Biasa, inseparable from temple ceremonies,
but always very fragmentary. The woman wears a man's
head-cloth and a woman's skirt. Instead of the woman's
earplugs she wears like a man a pear-shaped gold ornament
and golden pendants.
A
very aged man in an amazing head-dress of cloth-of-gold,
with a pointed flap of rose and gold, sprinkles the
dancers and then isled back to his seat. Now all come
out by twos and fours and go and pray in rows. The Guardian,
holding a leaf in his right hand, does a quick graceful
dance. A man does a Mendet round him, filling the leaf
with toeak. They meet and evade, circle close and separate.
The Guardian, with closed eyes, continues his dance
alone, then suddenly strides down to a shrine, seizes
a sword, and begins to -dance with wide swinging movement
in front of the gamelan, his arms making great circles
in the air. He is disarmed and quieted. The temple slowly
and imperceptibly empties. The moon is high; night has
fallen suddenly. All the gods are carried away on women's
shoulders. Long after, one meets along the road fragmentary
processions with gongs and singing and waving banners;
for many have far to go.
It
is the night of the full moon. A vast crowd is seated
before the offerings below the sun-altar, the smoke
rising round-them from fires of coconut shell. The offerings
are all quite low, but very pretty and crowned with
fan-shaped palm-leaves, which with the hibiscus flowers
make patterns of red and gold. An immense tongue of
white cloth hangs from one of the side temples all the
way down the steep high flight of steps. The pinnacles
and traceries of the huge baroque temple rise dark and
fantastic against the moon. Two gamelans are playing
against each other at the far end of the great court:
the gong gede and the tjoembang girang, with old instruments
played by old men. 'Mere is an extraordinary confusion
of sound. For an age nothing happened. The ground and
the different bales were covered with sleeping children,
lying in close rows like sardines. The waiting people
sat on and on, joined occasionally by priests, who made
a diversion with their prayers and sprinklings.
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