Why do I see trees in Bali wrapped in black and white cloth?

Why do I see trees in Bali wrapped in black and white cloth

?

All over Bali you'll see things wrapped in different coloured cloths. Dressing up inanimate objects may seem odd to outsiders, but the Balinese have a good reason why they do this.

Balinese Hindus believe that many objects also have a soulmeaning that it is thought that certain inanimate objects may be inhabited by some sort of spiritually. The Balinese refer to this as something "sitting" (malinggih) in or on the object. These items may be natural: rocks, trees, rivers, the sea, even mountains; or man-made: temples, other buildings, statues, gamelan instruments, kris, dance costumes and so on. If something is believed or made to be spiritually or magically charged, then the object's special nature is signified by a wrapping of different coloured cloths, the most common being black and white/red or white and red chequered cloth (saput poleng), and white/yellow cloth. Hence, you will often see giant banyan (beringin) trees and temple-guardian statues dressed up as if they are human beings in kamben. Some people like to decorate them further with flowers and even put cigarettes in their mouths (but this is not necessarily to indicate that they are sacred!).

Wrapped in this cloth, the object takes on the distinction of being sacred and offerings are normally made to it on a daily basis. If a large tree has a saput poleng wrapped around it, many consider the surrounding area haunted (tenget).

You may also see the performers of certain dances, such as kecak, calonarang, barong etc wearing saput poleng. Depending on the dance, however, it may or may not mean that it is sacred.

Especially don't be confused by the chequered cloth you may see being worn by traditional security guards (pecalang) or clowns in Balinese dramas. There's not a lot that's sacred about these fellasas a fashion statement, saput poleng has become one of the trademarks of Bali.

2009 Vaughan Hatch

To find out more local knowledge about the island, visit www.indokiwibali.com, a Balinese-New Zealand team of experts in the language and culture of Bali.

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