The Bruner Family Journey: The Unique Hindu Temples Of Bali

Bali is an island of temples. The Indonesian government has apparently cataloged more than 11,000 temples on the island, which is only about 2,100 square miles in size, just slightly larger than the state of Delaware. There are temples everywhere. Even individual homes and businesses have their own temples and shrines. In a moment of comic hyperbole, one of our guides exclaimed, "There must be a million temples on this tiny island!" One of our most memorable experiences in Bali was walking in a small village outside the city of Ubud, where each house had its own intricately decorated shrine, creating a striking streetscape that you wouldn't see anywhere else in the world.

Indeed, the Hindu traditions and practices in Bali seemed a world apart from the Hinduism we witnessed earlier on our trip - in southern India, Sri Lanka and Singapore (and in northern India and Nepal, where Eden and I spent two months in 1999). Broadly speaking, Balinese Hinduism reflects a distinctive mix of Hindu and Buddhist influences from abroad grafted onto a set of preexisting indigenous religious customs based on animism and the worship of ancestral spirits. Jeremy was quick to point out the singular experience of visiting a Hindu temple in Bali, at one point observing that "it seems much calmer here, not as grand, but with more trees - and you don't have to take your shoes off!" I must admit that we didn't visit an ashram in India (our family couldn't shut up for one minute, let alone take a vow of silence lasting for any measurable period of time). But as far as Hindu temples are concerned, the temples in Bali seemed to be smaller, quieter, and more intimate than their counterparts in South Asia. Balinese temples also look different, with a distinctive architectural style and color scheme that seem more reminiscent of Southeast Asia and even Polynesia than the Subcontinent.

Especially in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, visiting a Hindu temple can be an intense, even intimidating affair - with a barrage of people, traffic, colors, sounds, smells, and vivid images (and frequently an elephant or two) that assault the senses. But in Bali, visiting a Hindu temple was often a tranquil experience. Some temples seemed forever lost in the dense forest; at others, the only sounds we heard were some birds chirping and the flow of a nearby stream. Even when teeming with worshipers, the proceedings seemed relaxed and deliberate - not watered down, but perhaps more graceful and less frenetic that what we were used to. "It almost seems like we're at a Buddhist temple," Jeremy observed at one point. He's a perceptive little guy when he looks up from his Kindle. "It's really beautiful here - I like the nature," Talia remarked at one temple that seemed like it was about to be overtaken by the vines and greenery of the jungle.

One distinctive trait of a Balinese Hindu temple is that it is not a closed building with walls and a roof, but a simple rectangular courtyard that is open to the sky. The result is a more minimalist design and a stronger connection with the temple's natural surroundings. Another distinctive trait is the use of natural materials such as thatch roofing, bamboo, brick and wood, another expression of the harmony between the temple and its physical environment. There's also a powerful link between temple life and the community, with an elaborate system of rituals and offerings that pervades everyday existence, requiring a seemingly constant level of devotion, time and effort.

Hindus in Bali make up only a tiny fraction of Indonesia's population and even a lesser fraction of the world's Hindus. But Balinese Hinduism reflects a unique culture, religion and aesthetic sensibility that put the small island at the top of our world travel wish list when we were planning this adventure back in California a year ago. Even more so than the island's beautiful scenery, which I'll cover in our next post.