Why There Is No Dining Room in A Bali House?

-

A house in Bali has no dining room. Why is that? Where do they eat? Those are the questions in your mind. Before we talk about it, we need to see how a Bali house is built.


The house in Bali is built based on a concept of "mountain-ocean" line. The lay out of the building must follow the idea or believe that the direction toward the mountain is sacred but the direction toward the sea is less sacred. The mountain is considered sacred because it is the highest point or closest part to the heaven. Meaning that the higher the place, the more sacred it is. This is the reason why the sacred building, such as family temple, is located somewhere in the northern part of the house for people who live south of the mountains. Less sacred part, like kitchen and toilet, is in the direction toward the sea.


For Balinese who live in south Bali, south of the mountains, the house will consist of: building for the parents and family temple which is located in the north. Special building for ceremony like birthday (oton) or tooth filling called Bale Dangin is located in the east (also considered sacred building since it is in the direction of the sun rise). For Balinese who live in the north Bali, the family temple and the "room" for parents is in the south section because south is toward the mountain hence it is sacred. This is to the opposite of the idea of the direction in the southern part of Bali island.


Kitchen and toilet or clothes line is placed in the part furthest from the mountain direction. (Balinese would never walk under a clothes line because it is spiritually dirty ;-)). The west part is usually a building where guest or children is placed there.


The dining room does not present because Balinese don’t usually eat together or eating is not a social activity.We eat where ever is acceptable, for example in the kitchen or in the living room. Children usually eat while watching TV in the family room in the west building. And, we don’t talk when we eat. Bad luck, our grand parents said. You don’t look nice either, I think.


As you may have realized the house according to Bali tradition is not a single building. Rather it is a compound where there are buildings for different functions. So, can you imagine, for example, during the rainy season at night, you wake up at night and want to go to the toilet. Well, first you need an umbrella, because the toilet is in another building or you will get wet :-(.


The concept, the layout and the building style are adapted into modern hotel, or villas. If you travel to Bali, you can observe the hotel or villa you stay has the Balinese style. But don’t worry, this has been modified so there is no trouble for you to go to the toilet during the rainy season.


Technorati Tags: ,

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Swastika symbol in Bali?

-
Swastika sign can be seen in Bali, especially in Balinese Hindu temple. I must say almost all the Hindu Balinese are familiar to this symbol. Besides temple, one can also see it in houses, or community building. Even the 'Swastika' word is used as a person name, for example, Ketut Swastika. But why and what does Swastika mean? It simply means balance in relationship. The Balinese Hindu see the life is ideal when they live a balanced life indicated by three good relationship. The first is good relationship between human and the Almighty God. All the festivals, offering in temples, praying activity that you witness in Bali are examples that the Balinese really long for a great relationship with Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, The Almighty God. Next, the harmonious relationship among the human race. The Balinese values good relationship between themselves. Many activities in villages in Bali involve community of villagers . When one family in a certain village hold a ceremony such as cr...
Read more

Is Cow a Sacred Animal in Bali?

-
The answer you get of this question may vary if you ask different people. The priest may say, yes it is. But many Balinese, although they are Hindu, consume beef. And people in Bali breed cows for meat. You will not see cow wander in the streets, because they are just cattle. Some people don't eat beef because they think they should not eat beef because they think it is a sacred animal. They say they will have a headache if they do so. Well, may be because of the cholesterol or some thing like that. And another thing, we don't consume cow milk or any other milk in the past. We just recently do this, because it is been advertised a lot in the media, that milk is healthy for our body. But many of the older generations, many of our parents or grand parents don't fancy milk. They don't drink milk, they'd rather drink coffee than drinking milk. I can understand that, because milk taste awful sometimes. Oh, did I mention that our cow doesn't produce any milk? Their mi...
Read more

Why Can't A Woman in Period Enter A Temple?

-
Image
"Sorry, I can't go to the temple this full moon. I have my period," that's what Made, a friend of mine, once said to me when we talked about going to a temple. In Bali, women talk openly about their menstruation especially when it is related to temple activities. There is nothing embarrassing about that. But instead of saying in period, they merely say that they have their "monthly guest" coming. When you visit a temple in Bali, you must not be in your period when entering temple complex. Why is that? People, especially the lady tourists, ask with inquisitive and accusing look at me that we don't treat our Balinese women fairly. Okay, let me tell you, that is not the case. There some reasons why people are not allowed to enter the temple, this is called cuntaka (pronounced chun ta ka). If there is a mourning because of there is a death in one family, they can not go to the temple. Because it will cause the temple "leteh" or dirty. The woman wh...
Read more