Ceremonies are often held at the temple to the monkey god in a lush forest of banyon trees in Ubud.
The monkeys attract a lot of tourists so caretakers in green clothes
keep order between them because the monkeys can be aggressive about finding food.
The entry fee for
visitors is 10,000 rupiah (april 2006) There is a big ceremony for
the monkeys twice a year and a few smaller ones at varying intervals in
between.
At the park entrance vendors sell bananas for visitors to buy to feed
the monkeys. Consequently the monkeys get pretty used to people and are
quick to grab the food away if an opportunity arises.
The fellows in
green keep an eye on everyone to keep things from getting out of
control. It is after all the temple to these monkeys and they are more
than just animals here.
Ketut tells me there are 3 monkey kings in the forest. The one on the
east side, the west side and the one in the middle. They each rule over
their subjects and if they stay into each others territory a fight
breaks out between them and a new monkey might depose the present king
and take command.
Ketut claims that the monkeys stay there by magic
because they never stray from the forest and into town even though
there is plenty of food and trees elsewhere near by. (Others claim it's
the free bananas and they are just too lazy to leave the comforts of
home.)
When a ceremony is taking place, long lines of women in bright sarongs
with baskets of fruits piled high on their heads and men in white walk
down to the temple to honor the Hindu monkey gods.
Visitors are welcome
to be at the ceremony if they are appropriately dressed - in this case
that means wearing long pants or sarong and conservative shirt or top.
Beachwear would be considered offensive and disrespectful.
Even though
the local people often take baths in the rivers alongside the roads
with no shame they are offended by visitors wearing skimpy clothing in
public. It is kind of like a CEO showing up at a stockholders meeting
in his or her underwear. Just kind of out of place.
There are kecak dances with musicians playing the gambolins and barong
dancers with masks at different places in Ubud on many nights.
An entry
fee is taken and they are tourist oriented but still rather interesting
and a genuine part of the Hindu culture in Bali. Life goes on as usual
in spite of the heavy tourist pressure.
In the mornings you have to watch your step because there
are incense offerings to the gods on many of the sidewalks. Bits of
rice, flower petals, incense, and an occasional coin are placed on
small woven trays and set out as offerings to the gods early every
morning.
If one gets kicked over no one gets alarmed because they feel
that it is one of the spirits passing through. At the end of the day
all the incense offerings are swept up and thrown out and the whole
sequence starts again the next morning.
Ketut tells me it is amazing anything gets done at all in Bali because
everyone is always required to be at ceremony somewhere. Ubud is a
place that you can spend a lot af time getting lost in as it does have
kind of a magical spell about it.
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