Bali Travel Information
Flights
Airline tickets vary in prices and conditions and more than one airline can bring you to Bali. The big difference between the airlines are in the route they take. Many times the cheapest tickets involve the most stop overs en route, so it actually makes sense to pay a bit more to have a shorter flight. Ask us for the best deals at the time you are going to travel. Food The staple of daily fare is rice, accompanied by vegetables, a small amount of fish or meat, and a range of condiments, usually cooked in the early morning, and consumed whenever the need arises, often as snacks. Most Balinese meals are eaten quickly and without fanfare. Dining out and in groups is not a normal social custom. Festivals are the major exception. Food is prepared in an elaborate and decorative manner and is eaten communally, marking the occasion as something out of the ordinary. Some tourist restaurants present special Bali nights, featuring dishes such as suckling pig, a Balinese banquet favorite. Unless you are invited to dine with a local family, these special events may be your only way to sample the true Balinese cuisine. Almost every restaurant will serve nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice with a fried egg on top) and mie goreng (fried noodles with egg). These basic dishes are generally the favorites amongst tourists and travellers. Vegetarian versions may be requested. Prices range from Rp.3,000 to over Rp.15,000 depending on the surroundings. Another Indonesian favorite is satay (spicy marinaded thin slices of meat, threaded onto a skewer, barbecued, and served with a spicy peanut sauce). Satay ayam is chicken served in the same way. Satay prices vary widely from Rp.3,000 in the markets, to over Rp.15,000 in the larger restaurants. Gado gado is an Indonesian salad, served with spicy peanut sauce and often with prawn crackers. Expect to pay about Rp.5,000 to Rp.15,000. Chinese dishes, such as sweet and sour, cap-cay (stir fried meat and vegetables) etc. are also widely available, as is an abundance of fresh seafood, which is often kept alive in tanks until ready for cooking. Expect to pay about Rp.5,000 for basic dishes to over Rp.50,000 in restaurants (lobsters, will of course be far more expensive). Some other popular Indonesian dishes are;
Indonesians prefer to eat snacks, which can be bought everywhere on the streets at the small three wheeled carts, often pushed by young boys (the mobile stalls are called kaki lima, which means five legs - the three wheels of the cart, and the two legs of the cart pusher). Popular snacks include bakmie, sate , bakso (meatball soup), lemper (sticky rice), lumpia (fried spring rolls with vegetables and meat), sop (clear soup), soto (a meat and vegetable broth with rice), nasi goreng (fried rice) and mie goreng (fried noodles). Money Bali, being part of Indonesia, uses the Indonesian currency, the Rupiah (abbreviated, Rp.) as its monetary unit.Banknotes come in a range of denominations, including the commonly available Rp.100,000, Rp.50,000, Rp.20,000, Rp.10,000, Rp.5,000, Rp.1,000, Rp.500 and Rp.100 notes, while useful coin denominations are Rp.100 and Rp.50. Exchange rates have run up to around Rp.10,000 to one U.S. dollar, or around Rp.6,000 to one Australian dollar. Always check your local newspapers for current exchange rates, but expect a lesser rate when converting to Rupiah, as commissions will be charged on the conversion transactions. Foreign money can be exchanged at most banks in Bali. Banking hours are usually from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday and until 1.00 p.m. Saturday. Money can also be changed at the airport, at hotel cashiers, and at authorized money changers (found in almost every medium to large village and city). The exchange rates are published daily in newspapers and are usually posted prominently wherever money can be changed. Most authorized money changers operate seven days a week, and remain open daily until about 10:00 p.m. Most major credit cards are acceptable at hotels, large restaurants, department stores, travel agencies and many businesses that cater to the tourist trade, including galleries, arts and craft sellers. ATM's can be found in most tourist centres and shopping centres. Many ATM's have low limits per transaction eg around $40 so you may have to do a number of transactions if you are wanting more cash. Telephone & Internet Bali now has a fairly good telecommunication system. Public phones can be found on almost every street, internet cafes in all the major tourist areas and good GSM coverage. For users of mobile phones, coverage is excellent in most of the major tourist areas, however service is limited in more remote areas of Bali. We advise anyone traveling to Bali with their mobile phone to check with their network operators for their international roaming status prior to traveling. Cellular service in Indonesia is GSM. If you do decide to bring your mobile phone to Bali, you have the option of purchasing a prepaid calling card to make outgoing calls at a lower cost of calling on your home SIM. They are available from a number of shops displaying the service providers logos, such as IM3, Telkomsel, Satelindo and Pro XL. Wifi hotspots are now widely available in all the major tourist centres with most hotels providing free wifi access either in their rooms or in the reception areas of the property. |
People
The majority of Balinese are farmers but this is altering as tourism and associated businesses, such as souvenir manufacturing and selling, have become more important. The Balinese population live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok. The origins of the Balinese came from Java and Kalimantan in the prehistoric times of the proto-Malay stock with the second wave of Balinese coming slowly over the years from Java during the Hindu period; the third and final period came from Java, between the 15th and 16th centuries, at the time of the conversion of Islam in Java, aristocrats fled to Bali from the Javanese Majapahit Empire to escape Islamic conversion.
Geography
Bali has an area of 5,632 sq. km and measures only 140 km by 90 km. It is dramatically mountainous especially in the western region, and the center of the island is dominated by a number of volcanic mountains. Many people had perished in Gunung Agung's 1963 destructive eruption and a lot of wreckage took place in the eastern parts of Bali. The north and south of the central mountains are agricultural lands and the terrain is wider with gentle slopes. Bali is also encircled by coral reefs, and black (volcanic) sand blankets the beaches in the east and north.
Language
Balinese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by most of the population of the main island of Bali along with northern Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java. Most Balinese speakers also know Indonesian with English being widely spoken in the tourist areas of the island.
Religion
The vast majority of the Balinese believe in Agama Tirta, "holy-water religion". It is a Shivaite sect of Hinduism. Traveling Indian priests are said to have introduced the people to the sacred literature of Hinduism and Buddhism centuries ago. The people accepted it and combined it with their own pre-Hindu mythologies. The Balinese from before the third wave of immigration, known as the Bali Aga, are mostly not followers of Agama Tirta, but retain their own animist traditions.
Customs
The Balinese use altogether three types of calendars for one year; one is the typical Western calendar, and the other two are local Balinese calendars, the saka and the wuku calendars. The wuku calendar is used to find out dates for festivals and has 10 different weeks, each from one to 10 days and all running simultaneously. The saka calendar is a lunar calendar of Hindu origin, which closely follows the Western calendar in terms of the length of the year. With illustrations for each day indicating what activities that day is auspicious for, Balinese calendars make popular souvenirs. Some of Bali's major temples celebrate their festivals according to the dictates of the saka calendar. Hence, the actual date of a festival is difficult to determine from the Western calendar since the lunar saka does not have a predetermined number of days. The wuku calendar, however, does have a set number of days. According to the saka, full moons days from the end of September till the start of October, or from early to mid-April are normally important festive dates, and temples will celebrate important temple festivals then.
Each stage of Balinese life is marked by a series of ceremonies and rituals known as Manusa Yadnya. They contribute to the rich, varied and active life the average Balinese leads
Birth: The first ceremony of Balinese life takes place even before birth. Another ceremony takes place soon after the birth, during which the afterbirth is buried with appropriate offerings. The first major ceremony takes place halfway through the baby's first Balinese year of 210 days.
Names: Basically the Balinese only have four first names. The first child is Wayan or Putu, the second child is Made or Kadek, the third is Nyoman or Komang and the fourth is Ketut. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth will be another Wayan, Made, Nyoman, Ketut and Wayan again.
Childhood: The Balinese certainly love children and they have plenty of them to prove it. Coping with a large family is made much easier by the policy of putting younger children in the care of older ones. After the ceremonies of babyhood come ceremonies marking the stages of childhood and puberty, including the important tooth-filing ceremony.
Marriage: Every Balinese expects to marry and raise a family, and marriage takes places at a comparatively young age. Marriages are not, in general, arranged as they are in many other Asian communities although strict rules apply to marriages between the castes. There are two basic forms of marriage in Bali - mapadik and ngorod. The respectable form, in which the family of the man visit the family of the woman and politely propose that the marriage take place, is mapadik. The Balinese, however, like their fun and often prefer marriage by elopement (ngorod) as the most exciting option.
Men & Women:There are certain tasks clearly to be handled by women, and others reserved for men. Social life in Bali is relatively free and easy. In Balinese leisure activities the roles are also sex differentiated. Both men and women dance but only men play the gamelan. Today you do see some women painters, sculptors, and woodcarvers.
Death & Cremation: There are ceremonies for every stage of Balinese life but often the last ceremony-cremation-is the biggest. A Balinese cremation can be an amazing, spectacular, colorful, noisy and exciting event. In fact it often takes so long to organize a cremation that years have passed since the death. During that time the body is temporarily buried. Of course an auspicious day must be chosen for the cremation and since a big cremation can be very expensive business many less wealthy people may take the opportunity of joining in at a larger cremation and sending their own dead on their way at the same time. Brahmans, however, must be cremated immediately. Apart from being yet another occasion for Balinese noise and confusion it's a fine opportunity to observe the incredible energy the Balinese put into creating real works of art which are totally ephemeral. A lot more than a body gets burnt at the cremation. The body is carried from the burial ground (or from the deceased's home if it's an 'immediate' cremation) to the cremation ground in a high, multi-tiered tower made of bamboo, paper, string, tinsel, silk, cloth, mirrors, flowers and anything else bright and colorful you can think of. The tower is carried on the shoulders of a group of men, the size of the group depending on the importance of the deceased and hence the size of the tower. The funeral of a former rajah high priest may require hundreds of men to tote the tower.
Festivals & Events
Festivals and events are important features in the social landscape of Bali, and also permanent fixtures in the lives of the Balinese. These festivals and events are determined by the calendars of the Balinese from long ago. The major events in the life of a Balinese is believed to occur on fixed dates, which go according to the Balinese Calendar. Unlike temple festivals, these major events take place nearly every six months or every 210 days! The Balinese believe in annual cycles and every six months of a Balinese's life is a celebration of holidays and life-cycle ceremonies. Since his conception in his mother's womb, every Balinese passes through certain stages, and this carries on up until marriage. These are the events celebrated to mark the passage of a Balinese as he progresses in his life. But the ritual of utmost importance to the Balineses is the ritual of the funeral rites and cremation. It is, therefore, extremely obvious that festivals and events are an integral part of Balinese life and a huge part of the mysticism and allure that sets Bali apart from any other land. To help preserve and maintain every aspect of this rich culture, the Provincial Government of Bali holds numerous Annual Festivals.
Galungan: Bali's most important festival is the Galungan festival. It is a feast and festival which is held throughout the whole island and an annual event in the wuku year. It is believed that during this ten day period all Balinese gods, including Sanghyang Widi, the supreme deity, will descend to earth for the festivities. Barongs prance from temple to temple and village to village in celebration of the Galungan with the gods. Galungan to the Balinese, is the most important holiday period as it symbolizes the victory of Dharma, or Virtue, upon Adharma, or all that is Evil.
Nyepi: The saka calendar has a major festival called Nyepi, or the final day of the saka year. It falls on the day after the new moon on the ninth month. Nyepi is a celebrated holiday and the Balinese New Year called icaka New Year. It is a day of total silence throughout the island. Nyepi really is a celebration observed with total silence. On Nyepi day, there is totally no activity - no traffic at all on the roads, no amusement is held the whole day long. No fires also may be lit in observance of the Nyepi and great purification and sacrificial rites are held on the day prior to Nyepi in order to exorcise evil spirits from every corner of Bali.
Saraswati: Bali and the Balinese also celebrate Saraswati, a day devoted to God's manifestation as the wise and beautiful Goddess of Knowledge, Art and Literature - the Dewi Saraswati. To mark this joyous day, books of knowledge, manuscripts and the Wedas are blessed and special offerings are made together with aspirations for knowledge and wisdom.
History
Bali was inhabited by Austronesian peoples by about 2000 BCE who migrated originally from Taiwan through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, and Oceania.Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west. Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian and Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, in a process beginning around the 1st century AD. The Hindu Majapahit Empire(1293-1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. When the empire declined, there was an exodus of intellectuals, artists, priests and musicians from Java to Bali in the 15th century.
The first European contact with Bali is thought to have been made by Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman who arrived in 1597, though a Portuguese ship had foundered off the Bukit Peninsula as early as 1585.[citation needed] Dutch colonial control was expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century (see Dutch East Indies). Their political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast by playing various distrustful Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control. The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who marched to certain death against superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 4,000 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In 1908, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung. Afterwards the Dutch governors were able to exercise little influence over the island, and local control over religion and culture generally remained intact.
Dutch rule over Bali had come later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku. Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II during which time a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. In the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature", and western tourism first developed on the island.[6] Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch promptly returned to Indonesia, including Bali, immediately to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels now using Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance. In 1946 the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly-proclaimed Republic of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting these traditional values. Politically, this was represented by opposing supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto. The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5 per cent of the island's population.[7] With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to maneuver Sukarno out of the presidency, and his "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revised in a modern form, and the resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely affected tourism, bringing much economic hardship to the island.
The majority of Balinese are farmers but this is altering as tourism and associated businesses, such as souvenir manufacturing and selling, have become more important. The Balinese population live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok. The origins of the Balinese came from Java and Kalimantan in the prehistoric times of the proto-Malay stock with the second wave of Balinese coming slowly over the years from Java during the Hindu period; the third and final period came from Java, between the 15th and 16th centuries, at the time of the conversion of Islam in Java, aristocrats fled to Bali from the Javanese Majapahit Empire to escape Islamic conversion.
Geography
Bali has an area of 5,632 sq. km and measures only 140 km by 90 km. It is dramatically mountainous especially in the western region, and the center of the island is dominated by a number of volcanic mountains. Many people had perished in Gunung Agung's 1963 destructive eruption and a lot of wreckage took place in the eastern parts of Bali. The north and south of the central mountains are agricultural lands and the terrain is wider with gentle slopes. Bali is also encircled by coral reefs, and black (volcanic) sand blankets the beaches in the east and north.
Language
Balinese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by most of the population of the main island of Bali along with northern Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java. Most Balinese speakers also know Indonesian with English being widely spoken in the tourist areas of the island.
Religion
The vast majority of the Balinese believe in Agama Tirta, "holy-water religion". It is a Shivaite sect of Hinduism. Traveling Indian priests are said to have introduced the people to the sacred literature of Hinduism and Buddhism centuries ago. The people accepted it and combined it with their own pre-Hindu mythologies. The Balinese from before the third wave of immigration, known as the Bali Aga, are mostly not followers of Agama Tirta, but retain their own animist traditions.
Customs
The Balinese use altogether three types of calendars for one year; one is the typical Western calendar, and the other two are local Balinese calendars, the saka and the wuku calendars. The wuku calendar is used to find out dates for festivals and has 10 different weeks, each from one to 10 days and all running simultaneously. The saka calendar is a lunar calendar of Hindu origin, which closely follows the Western calendar in terms of the length of the year. With illustrations for each day indicating what activities that day is auspicious for, Balinese calendars make popular souvenirs. Some of Bali's major temples celebrate their festivals according to the dictates of the saka calendar. Hence, the actual date of a festival is difficult to determine from the Western calendar since the lunar saka does not have a predetermined number of days. The wuku calendar, however, does have a set number of days. According to the saka, full moons days from the end of September till the start of October, or from early to mid-April are normally important festive dates, and temples will celebrate important temple festivals then.
Each stage of Balinese life is marked by a series of ceremonies and rituals known as Manusa Yadnya. They contribute to the rich, varied and active life the average Balinese leads
Birth: The first ceremony of Balinese life takes place even before birth. Another ceremony takes place soon after the birth, during which the afterbirth is buried with appropriate offerings. The first major ceremony takes place halfway through the baby's first Balinese year of 210 days.
Names: Basically the Balinese only have four first names. The first child is Wayan or Putu, the second child is Made or Kadek, the third is Nyoman or Komang and the fourth is Ketut. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth will be another Wayan, Made, Nyoman, Ketut and Wayan again.
Childhood: The Balinese certainly love children and they have plenty of them to prove it. Coping with a large family is made much easier by the policy of putting younger children in the care of older ones. After the ceremonies of babyhood come ceremonies marking the stages of childhood and puberty, including the important tooth-filing ceremony.
Marriage: Every Balinese expects to marry and raise a family, and marriage takes places at a comparatively young age. Marriages are not, in general, arranged as they are in many other Asian communities although strict rules apply to marriages between the castes. There are two basic forms of marriage in Bali - mapadik and ngorod. The respectable form, in which the family of the man visit the family of the woman and politely propose that the marriage take place, is mapadik. The Balinese, however, like their fun and often prefer marriage by elopement (ngorod) as the most exciting option.
Men & Women:There are certain tasks clearly to be handled by women, and others reserved for men. Social life in Bali is relatively free and easy. In Balinese leisure activities the roles are also sex differentiated. Both men and women dance but only men play the gamelan. Today you do see some women painters, sculptors, and woodcarvers.
Death & Cremation: There are ceremonies for every stage of Balinese life but often the last ceremony-cremation-is the biggest. A Balinese cremation can be an amazing, spectacular, colorful, noisy and exciting event. In fact it often takes so long to organize a cremation that years have passed since the death. During that time the body is temporarily buried. Of course an auspicious day must be chosen for the cremation and since a big cremation can be very expensive business many less wealthy people may take the opportunity of joining in at a larger cremation and sending their own dead on their way at the same time. Brahmans, however, must be cremated immediately. Apart from being yet another occasion for Balinese noise and confusion it's a fine opportunity to observe the incredible energy the Balinese put into creating real works of art which are totally ephemeral. A lot more than a body gets burnt at the cremation. The body is carried from the burial ground (or from the deceased's home if it's an 'immediate' cremation) to the cremation ground in a high, multi-tiered tower made of bamboo, paper, string, tinsel, silk, cloth, mirrors, flowers and anything else bright and colorful you can think of. The tower is carried on the shoulders of a group of men, the size of the group depending on the importance of the deceased and hence the size of the tower. The funeral of a former rajah high priest may require hundreds of men to tote the tower.
Festivals & Events
Festivals and events are important features in the social landscape of Bali, and also permanent fixtures in the lives of the Balinese. These festivals and events are determined by the calendars of the Balinese from long ago. The major events in the life of a Balinese is believed to occur on fixed dates, which go according to the Balinese Calendar. Unlike temple festivals, these major events take place nearly every six months or every 210 days! The Balinese believe in annual cycles and every six months of a Balinese's life is a celebration of holidays and life-cycle ceremonies. Since his conception in his mother's womb, every Balinese passes through certain stages, and this carries on up until marriage. These are the events celebrated to mark the passage of a Balinese as he progresses in his life. But the ritual of utmost importance to the Balineses is the ritual of the funeral rites and cremation. It is, therefore, extremely obvious that festivals and events are an integral part of Balinese life and a huge part of the mysticism and allure that sets Bali apart from any other land. To help preserve and maintain every aspect of this rich culture, the Provincial Government of Bali holds numerous Annual Festivals.
Galungan: Bali's most important festival is the Galungan festival. It is a feast and festival which is held throughout the whole island and an annual event in the wuku year. It is believed that during this ten day period all Balinese gods, including Sanghyang Widi, the supreme deity, will descend to earth for the festivities. Barongs prance from temple to temple and village to village in celebration of the Galungan with the gods. Galungan to the Balinese, is the most important holiday period as it symbolizes the victory of Dharma, or Virtue, upon Adharma, or all that is Evil.
Nyepi: The saka calendar has a major festival called Nyepi, or the final day of the saka year. It falls on the day after the new moon on the ninth month. Nyepi is a celebrated holiday and the Balinese New Year called icaka New Year. It is a day of total silence throughout the island. Nyepi really is a celebration observed with total silence. On Nyepi day, there is totally no activity - no traffic at all on the roads, no amusement is held the whole day long. No fires also may be lit in observance of the Nyepi and great purification and sacrificial rites are held on the day prior to Nyepi in order to exorcise evil spirits from every corner of Bali.
Saraswati: Bali and the Balinese also celebrate Saraswati, a day devoted to God's manifestation as the wise and beautiful Goddess of Knowledge, Art and Literature - the Dewi Saraswati. To mark this joyous day, books of knowledge, manuscripts and the Wedas are blessed and special offerings are made together with aspirations for knowledge and wisdom.
History
Bali was inhabited by Austronesian peoples by about 2000 BCE who migrated originally from Taiwan through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, and Oceania.Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west. Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian and Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, in a process beginning around the 1st century AD. The Hindu Majapahit Empire(1293-1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. When the empire declined, there was an exodus of intellectuals, artists, priests and musicians from Java to Bali in the 15th century.
The first European contact with Bali is thought to have been made by Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman who arrived in 1597, though a Portuguese ship had foundered off the Bukit Peninsula as early as 1585.[citation needed] Dutch colonial control was expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century (see Dutch East Indies). Their political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast by playing various distrustful Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control. The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who marched to certain death against superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 4,000 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In 1908, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung. Afterwards the Dutch governors were able to exercise little influence over the island, and local control over religion and culture generally remained intact.
Dutch rule over Bali had come later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku. Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II during which time a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. In the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature", and western tourism first developed on the island.[6] Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch promptly returned to Indonesia, including Bali, immediately to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels now using Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance. In 1946 the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly-proclaimed Republic of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting these traditional values. Politically, this was represented by opposing supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto. The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5 per cent of the island's population.[7] With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to maneuver Sukarno out of the presidency, and his "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revised in a modern form, and the resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely affected tourism, bringing much economic hardship to the island.
