Purification .... when the soul needs spiritual cleansing

-

At some point in their life, a Balinese would do a spiritual cleansing ritual. It's the ritual for cleansing their body, mind and spirit.
Why do we need a spiritual cleansing? We believe in balance between physical and spiritual. When the physical body is dirty, we can wash it by water and soap. When the spiritual body is dirty, we do it by purification ritual.
One of the place for this is the temple of Pura Tirta Sudamala in Bangli. Located by the river with a spring, it is an ideal place for such ritual.
The spring temple of Pura Tirta Sudamala.

To do this, first we pray to the God or universe for blessing and guidance at the temple. The prayer is lead by a Pemangku or priest.
Next we will go to the river, wash our face and body, and then go to each of the water sprout available close to the temple.
The water sprouts. 

The river just in front of the temple. Some people were cleansing themselves there.

The end of the ritual of cleansing is the blessing by the pemangku or priest.

Finally the priest will sprinkle us with holy water and bija as the mark of the end of the ritual and sign of blessing.

At the end of the ritual in the river, the local would go to the main temple, located also at the same area, to pray for thanking the God.

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