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History about Bali and its people and
culture
 We
know little of the stone age people who first
settled on the island of Bali. But around 3000
years ago new immigrants began to arrive. They
were an animistic bronze age people who carried
with them ritual bronze objects, knowledge dry
rice cultivation and the art of weaving.
Bali flourished
into an important centre of the so called Dong Son
culture. The largest of the many prehistoric
bronze rain drums, still considered a sacred
object and worshipped by the Balinese, can be
found in the Pura Penataran Sasih Temple in
Pejeng. Legend holds it to be a wheel that fell
from the chariot of the goddess of the moon.
The second wave of
migrants of Malay stock arrived from the north who
brought with them the secret of wet rice
cultivation that increased the harvests tenfold.
The abundance of rice created a new wealth upon
which the Balinese pay homage to Dewi Sri, the
goddess of rice.
 Many other elements
of pre-Hindu ancestor worship still survived up
till now. Some communities such who live in
Tenganan and Trunyan claim to be the original
inhabitants of the island. Almost a thousand years
ago Bali became a vassal of the great Hinduized
empires of East Java.
One of the East Java
emperors, Airlangga who ruled in 1019 - 1049, was
in fact the son of a great Balinese king, Udayana,
by a Javanese wife. But long before this, the
Balinese had already begun to change their native
animism by adopting Hindu rites, learning and
cosmology, in a centuries-long process. Indian
culture was present as early as the 9th century.
The Balinese language is derived from the Palava
script of southern India.
Hindu-Javanese
influence reached its peak at the turn of the 16th
century when the entire Hinduized aristocracy of
Java had fled before the onslaught of Islam and
sought refuge in the island of Bali. In 1550 Bali
was united under the independent ruler, Dewa Agung
of Gelgel. Although the political unification
lasted only two generations, Bali entered its
cultural "golden age" in which elaborate
ceremonies and its associated arts flourished in
its every life.
Surprisingly, the
rich Bali was among the last areas in Indonesia to
be occupied by the Dutch and only came under their
colonial rule after prolonged resistance. When a
wrecked cargo ship was looted by the Balinese off
the south coast (a traditional practice of island
people in many parts of the world), the Dutch used
it as a pretense to force their control over the
island.
One morning in 1908
in Puputan Square, Denpasar, Balinese princes and
their families, wearing splendid ceremonial
dresses and waving krises, charged deliberately
into Dutch rifles, preferring death than the
humiliation of surrender. This mass suicide called
"puputan" resulted in the annihilation
of the entire royal family.
The Land
 Being
once a geographic extension of Java, Bali still
resembles it: its climate, flora and fauna, etc.
The 5,623 sq. km island is dominated by mountains.
There are very few flat areas. The surface is
marked by deep ravines with fast flowing rivers
now being used for white-water rafting. In
northern Bali is a west to east volcanic chain as
high as 1,500 - 3,000 m. above sea level.
In the southern
part of the island are the rice fields, carved out
of the hills and valleys. An irrigation system and
controlled by Subak - a village organization -
managed the water distribution.
Besides rice there
are crops of tea, cacao, coffee, groundnuts and
tropical fruits. More to the north, onions,
cabbages and other crops which grows better in the
cooler climate can be found.
Climate
 Since it lies only 8 degrees south of the
equator, Bali is hot and humid. Its tropical
showers give way quickly to blinding sunshine.
Rainfall arrives mainly in the late afternoon and
night.
November to April is the rainy season, with
December and January the wettest, while May to October
is the dry season. From June to September is very
pleasant for a visit. Flora
and Fauna  Being
part of the Asian Zone of Indonesia, generally
speaking Bali has no specific endemic flora or
fauna, except the Bali Sterling or Bali Myna, and
in the past the Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica)
now extinct.
In
West Bali National Park, other species are often
seen, such as barking deer, Langur (Prysbetis
cristata), Scaly anteater (Manisjavanica),
wildboar (Susscrofa), porcupine (Histrix javanica),
longtail macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Asian pied
starling (Sturnus contra), Jungle Myna (Acridotheres
fuscus), Fulvous/breasted woodpecker (Picoides
macei) and Blacknaped oriole (Oriolus chinensis). Dogs
and pigs roam the streets, especially in rural
areas. There is no endemic flora in Bali, but
specific flowers are widely used for personal
ornament and religious offerings like the kamboja
flower is slipped behind the left or right ear as
daily ornament. The water lily is used for
offerings as well as a favorite target for
painters. The Banyan tree (ficus elastica) or Pule
tree (Alstonia scholaris) are regarded sacred
trees in Bali. People
and Religion  The
Balinese are small with delicate features. While
the Javanese, culturally, tend more toward
refinement, the Balinese prefer the flashy
sensations. They are more lavish in colors and
decorations. They like explosive music and fast
dynamic dances.
Actually,
the common Balinese encountered daily are the descendants
of the migrants from Java, called "Wong
Mojopahit" by the indigenous Balinese who
called themselves "Bali Aga". The Bali
Aga live exclusively on certain places like
Tenganan in Karangasem and Trunyan at the shore of
Lake Batur. Caste is indicated by name with the
classical Hindu division into three main classes:
the Brahmans with the title "Ida", the
Ksatryas with the title "Dewa", and the
Vaisyas with the title "Gusti". The Bali
Aga are regarded (by the common Balinese called
"Wong Mojopahit") as "sudras"
or "casteless", though non is
untouchable. About
ninety percent of Bali's population practice
Bali-Hinduism, but there are also Moslems, Buddhists
and Christians. Blimbing is a small Christian
village in the far western part of Bali. Arabs and
Indians, many dealing in textiles, live in
Denpasar, the capital of the province. Chinese are
found in the main trading centres such as
Denpasar, Singaraja, and Amlapura.
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