ANTH 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Shadow Play, Calendar
Anth. 208 Week Thirteen Lecture Notes
Three Worlds of Bali Film Notes
● Bali has sort of mied technology with their old traditions more or less successfully
● Plant based on a temple calendar
● Shadow puppetry is one of the ways to depict gods and demons, do this through various
art forms but shadow puppetry is the most prevalent/popular, but it’s all just based on art
○ About keeping gods/demons in balance, cycle of growth and decay
● Ekadasa Rudra is the big festival to basically reset the cycle that they have every 100
years, the whole point is that no one alive is supposed to know how to do it each time it
comes around
○ About having the gods and demons come down and trying to make them ‘gods’
rather than demons for the next hundred years to keep in balance, confronting
forces of decay to hold them back for next century but won’t say if it’s worked for
awhile
● Society revolves around calendars set by the temples, and other aspects they set
● Myths based on Sanskrit poetry originally from India
● High priests have to follow the ‘lontars’ basically the sanskrit poetry to the letter though
many others emulate it
○ Up until relatively recently Bali was run by kings and high priests from the
temples up until attack from the Dutch
● Tourism is a big industry in Bali
● Water is a key symbol as are time cycles, the three world tree, etc. Lots of it works
together and is dependent on feedback relationships
Document Summary
Bali has sort of mied technology with their old traditions more or less successfully. Shadow puppetry is one of the ways to depict gods and demons, do this through various art forms but shadow puppetry is the most prevalent/popular, but it"s all just based on art. About keeping gods/demons in balance, cycle of growth and decay. Ekadasa rudra is the big festival to basically reset the cycle that they have every 100 years, the whole point is that no one alive is supposed to know how to do it each time it comes around. Society revolves around calendars set by the temples, and other aspects they set. Myths based on sanskrit poetry originally from india. High priests have to follow the lontars" basically the sanskrit poetry to the letter though many others emulate it. Up until relatively recently bali was run by kings and high priests from the temples up until attack from the dutch.
