Fullmoon Temple Celebrations in Bondalem 2010

Bondalem is a village of 3000 inhabitants, a small but sprawling fishing village on the North Shore of Bali.

Here, like all over Bali, most Balinese follow the Hindu Religion and daily life is filled with many kinds of ceremonies. In the early morning you will see Balinese placing daily offerings baskets in and around their family compounds and homes or their businesses.

An offering basket is a small woven basket, filled with flowers, adorned with food items, that is placed in judicious places to evoke blessings from the supernatural forces, the ancestors and the spirits.

In reverent posture you will see a Balinese bestowing the basket with a prayer as he moves his or her hands graciously in a blessing posture, waving the incense and sprinkling the holy water over the basket to complete the ritual.

Prayers and asking for blessings dominate the entire Balinese life. Here in Bali all of life is seen as one continuum of inner and outer forces that are asked to work in harmony through prayer and blessing ceremonies.

Any major activity is involved with prayer.

  • There are the prayers / blessings for the health of the family, the business, and any place of special activity.
  • There are the daily offerings for the ancestors at the family temple in each compound.
  • And then there are the larger blessing ceremonies such as the celebration of the 3rd month and 6th month of a child’s life, the annual blessing of all mechanical objects, as well as the annual blessing of all tools, followed by the very colorful large communal celebrations that will block streets all around Bali.

Before a Balinese person embarks on any major activity he has to create a ceremony to initiate or complete any major action. For this he has to find a “good” day for this activity, one that favors the positive outcome of any given wish. For example, there are good days for marriage, cremations, job applications, opening a business, taking down a tree or blessing a new building.

Seers or priests are asked ahead of time if the undertaking is likely to be successful and then a good day has to be looked for to begin the activity. A priest consults the Balinese calendar, which is based on the lunar cycle and is held to strictly, side by side to the Gregorian calendar.

Besides the many ceremonies the Balinese follow, the Bondalem community also calls for major communal ceremonies at the Village Temple, called the KAYANGAN TIGE TEMPLE. These communal ceremonies are created by every member of the village participating in some capacity or another.

It is largely this self understood cooperation that holds the community together. A deep sense of surrendering the self to the greater whole is required in order to make the communal life work.

The major Temples are:

1 . Pura Bale Agung:
located in the middle of Bondalem village, east of main the market of Bondalem. Here Brahma is worshiped as the Creator Force of the universe. This temple has its major ceremony on full moon of Sasih Kadasa / which is in March every year.

2. Pura Desa: is located within the Pura Bale Agung. This temple has its ceremony every full moon of Sasih Kalime / which is in October every year.

3. Pure Puseh: located in the south of Bondalem, is dedicated to worship Vishnu the Creator God that takes care of the world and the universe. This temple has its ceremony on full moon of Sasih Kapat/ which is in September every year.

4. Pura Dalem (Karma Temple): located in the north east of Bondalem, is dedicated to worship Shiva, the Destroyer or Renewer of the world and the universe. This temple has a connection with the cemetery (also called Kuburan).This temple has its ceremony on the full moon Sasih Keenem / which is in November every year.

Bondalem has eight temples. Every temple has its own special months for its annual major celebration. These major annual celebrations are worth attending, as they offer dance, and lengthy rituals.

The temples are:

  • Sang Catu
  • Sang Naga
  • Sang Bingin
  • Pura Alit
  • Alang Tengah
  • Maksan
  • Jero Dalem,
  • Sang Bukit

Each temple has its own group of village members who are responsible for the maintenance of the temple and its ceremonies. This grouping of members is called a Banjar and is a group of men who have the duty and right to build and take care of these temples.
The community Banjar, made up of all married men in its quadrant, is responsible for holding ceremonies on the days that have been deemed “good” days according to the Balinese Lunar Calendar for this particular Temple.
Each Banjar collects its funds from their members in order to maintain the ceremonies at their temple, but the temples are open to all villagers.
Here are the months during in which each of the different Temple holds their important ceremonies respectively:

JUNE
1.  Pura Sang Catu: located behind of Gajah Biru House in the north of Bondalem Village. This temple has its ceremony every full moon of Sasih Kasa / which is in June every year.

JULY
2.  Sang Naga: located in front of the Football field, close to the Karma Temple. This temple has its good day for the ceremony on full moon Sasih Karo / which is in July, every year.

AUGUST
3. Pura sang Bingin: located in the north east of Bondalem. This temple has its ceremony on every full moon of Sasih Ketiga/ which is in August every year. This temple is very famous for being the trading place in the universe.

AUGUST
4. Pura Alit: located in the Northwest of Bondalem. This temple has its ceremony one day after full moon, or one day after Sang Bingin Tempel ceremony, on Pang Apisan/ which is in August. This temple has a connection with Pura Sang Bingin.

SEPTEMBER
5. Pura Alang Tegah: located in the south of Bondalem. This temple has its ceremony one day after full moon/ Pang Apisan in September once a year.

SEPTEMBER – 5 DAYS AFTER FULL MOON

6. Maksan: located in the south of Bondalem, close to the Puseh Temple, this temple has its ceremony on Pang ping lima, which is 5 Days after full moon in September every year.

OCTOBER
7. Jero Dalem: located in the southeast of Bondalem and has its ceremony one day after full moon / Pang Apisan, which is in October every year.

DECEMBER
8. Sang Bukit: located in the south of Bondalem. It has its good day for ceremony on Sasih Kepitu / on full moon, in December every year.

CREMATION

You are welcomed to attend any of the cremation in Bondalem which seem to go on very frequently. You can call any of our local Hotels, and they might inform you of any ongoing cremation ceremonies in that week.

Ceremonial Dates in the major Temples of Bondalem in 2010

No.

Temple

Date

Sasih Purnama

Time in pm

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Bale Agung

Sang Catu

Sang Naga

Sang Bingin

Pura Alit

Puseh

Alang Tengah

Maksan

Pura Desa

Jro Dalem

Pura Dalem

Sang Bukit

Monday 03/29/2010

Saturday 06/26/2010

Monday 07/26/2010

Tuesday 08/24/2010

Wednesday 08/25/2010

Thursday 09/23/2010

Friday 09/24/2010

Tuesday 09/28/2010

Friday 10/22/2010

Saturday 10/23/2010

Sunday 11/21/2010

Monday 12/20/2010

Kadasa

Kasa

Karo

Ketiga

Pang apisan

Kapat

Pang L Apisan

Pang Ping Lima

Kelima

Pang Apisan

Keenam

Kepitu

19.30

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

20.00

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *