Toko Buku - William
Dalton
Bali Advertiser,
August 2010
Incredibly, ancient Balinese cultural
traditions remain intact today alongside 21st century modernity and
a highly developed tourist industry. Yet few visitors ever begin to
really understand the colorful pageantry and the origins of the ritual
practices that surround them virtually everywhere they travel on the
island.
Unpretentious and easily readable in
its approach, Secrets of Bali is the key to this understanding. For
succinct and wide ranging information
about Balinese life, religion, festivals and offerings, architecture,
music, dance, textiles, dress, carvings and paintings, manuscripts,
food and much more, this is the book to which the visitor or the student
can turn for answers which explain both traditional culture and the
ever changing realities of contemporary life.
A close reading will reveal a great number of facts that are little
known to even long-term residents of Bali, whether it be such fascinating
trivia as Walter Spies introducing Balinese artists to picture frames,
the earliest surviving photographs of Bali were taken between 1862
and 1868, or that food prepared using a mortar and pestle tastes noticeably
better than grinding the ingredients with a blender.
The “secrets” revealed
are not just about Bali but about the island’s historical and
cultural significance in the larger universe of Indonesia and Southeast
Asia. Did you know that Sembiran in northern Bali was visited by Indian
traders as early as 210 B.C., that the first English colony founded
anywhere was on the tiny island of Run in the Bandas, that there is
no depiction of rice on Borobudur, and that wealthy homes in 18th
century Batavia had cells to incarcerate Balinese slaves if they were
disobedient?
Most readers are also probably unaware that a major sect of Balinese
Hinduism is based on the Hare Krishna philosophy, how dark complexions
evolved in tropical regions, the Pejeng drum is the largest bronze
drum ever found, the first Christian missionary to Bali was murdered,
many Balinese temples in on the west coast have shrines dedicated
to Muslim ancestors and that 11% of Bali’s population are migrants.
A few misconceptions and misinterpretations
are also exploded. For example, the sea is not seen as evil and unclean,
an assertion found in much of the popular and even academic literature
on Bali. Purification ceremonies regularly take place in the sea,
ritual objects and a person’s ashes are taken to the ocean for
purification, and the sea is the source of holy water.
The quality of the book’s index enables the reader to readily
access information. Indonesian and Balinese words in italics indicate
the page number where the subject is discussed and there’s also
a nine-page glossary that gives even more thorough definitions. Topics
not found in the index can be found in the contents pages. If you
wanted to find out about tumpek (certain days dedicated to respect
for objects) or the origin and choreography of the Kebyar Duduk dance,
both the index and the glossary provide information.
Educated at the University College
London, Jonathan Copeland spent 25 years practising law while traveling
extensively in Bali where he researched and photographed all aspects
of the culture. His formal university training is undoubtedly the
source of his deep knowledge of the classics of Western literature
and philosophy and of modern psychology which is so evident in the
text. His many years as a lawyer taught him how to explain complex
subjects easily.
Co-author Ni Wayan Murni, born in Penestanan, is a well-known personality
on the Bali scene and a pioneer of Balinese tourism. In 1974 Murni
opened Ubud’s first real restaurant, Murni’s Warung, and
also established the town’s first proper gallery of antique
ethnic artifacts. On numerous occasions Murni took the author to places
and religious ceremonies where he was the only non-Balinese.
In many ways, the book is also a cultural and
social history of mankind and the planet as seen through the microcosm
of the tiny island of Bali, constantly drawing
parallels and comparisons with other cultures. The author consistently
explains phenomena – from the Big Bang to the Bali Bomb - as
it fits in the larger global context. Thus when the author discusses
Balinese history we get to learn about Chinese and Indian seafaring
empires and 16th century Portugal; when he explains the Balinese calendar
we learn about ancient Egypt and Rome.
Copeland takes us back to the beginnings of human life in Indonesia
as he discusses Java Man and even devotes three pages on the discovery
in 2003 of “island dwarves” (the Hobbits) who died out
12,000 years ago. The book is full of small essays like how Bali got
its name, a chapter on the core beliefs of Bali Hinduism, and the
dramatic story of Danish trader Mads Lange, the White Raja of Bali.
The last chapter, Summing Up, lays out the differences between Western
and Asian cultures, the first step in avoiding misunderstandings,
and the myriad ways in which the Balinese perceive and reason differently
than Westerners.
Encyclopedic in its coverage, the product of
prodigious research, difficult subjects from the sublime to the arcane
are simply explained in this well written and up to date work.
Secrets of Bali is a valuable and authoritative
reference source as well as an entertaining read for the visitor,
scholar and Bali aficionado.
