Story Of Bali, Indonesia

The Indonesian envisages not only the world of nature as male and female, but also the whole cosmos, including material objects. Sun and heaven are the masculine counterparts of moon and earth. Textiles represent die female element, whereas weapons. on the other band, represent the male element; when both are combined (with die weapon generally being a spear, or its harmless substitute, a long stick), this becomes a symbol of the universe as a whole. The carrying of flags and pennons, which is generally considered as merely a festival ornament or a means of expressing joy on some special occasion, thus acquires a symbolic significance in the truest sense of the word.

It is of great importance that no great Javanese works of architecture and sculpture have been preserved. Several reasons may be given for this: firstly, the prince held a completely different position tinder Islam; secondly, Islam prohibited the representation of human beings and animals; and the prohibition affected princes much more than the common people; and thirdly, political and economic circumstances prevented Mataram from becoming a powerful and flourishing kingdom.

Such significance attaches to the textiles not only of those peoples relatively unaffected by later cultural influences, but also to those strongly permeated by Hinduism, e.g. on Java and Bali. On these islands certain textiles are still especially esteemed. in particular the old calico cloths produced by the tic-dyeing process, which are deemed to possess special magic powers.

After what has been said above, it need hardly be pointed out that the patterns of these fabrics are, or at least originally were, connected with the magic or ceremonial role for which each particular one is designed. It, this respect the motifs on the fabrics have much affinity with the tattoos still in vogue among several tribes, including the Dayaks and some tribes on the Lesser Sundas and the Moluccas.

Please access this web site for more Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and all Indonesia Hotels bali lombok yogyakarta jakartahotels- and Indonesian Holidays Information, hotels and travel reservation indonesia hotels travel holidays