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March 14, 2011
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Ever wonder about the colourful offering you always seen on the ground at every house gate or any entry of a shop? These tiny burst of colour not only serves as a culture icon of Bali, but also as a physical for everyday prayer and expression of gratitude for the safety and wealth of the day.
As the island of the Gods, Bali daily routines infuse with offerings and rituals. From a child’s birth to good day to wash car, they have special rituals and regime that adjusted to the ritual participants’ birth date or the movement of the moon as the base criterion. Almost every day there is at least one celebration in every part of Bali, which also gives more options for tourists to explore the land and culture easily. Especially for Canang Sari, Bali and its small offering also serve as a marking for other celebration or holistic commemoration a ritual. Details found in Canang Sari are an indication of the Balinese people’s artisan spirit and the ardour of their faith to worship their Gods.
The word Canang Sari means “Small coconut leaf basket” for canang, and “Essence” for sari. The shape of this little weaved basket can vary depends on occasions, with square shape as the most common one found at every entry or placed in front of statues. Circular one, especially those with antennae-like parts around the basket’s outline, is more reserved to special ceremonies and depicted the sun. Each canang carries coconut leaves, a slice of banana, rice kernels, a fragrance stick, multiple flower petals, and bamboo slices to represent the essence, or sari, of Balinese daily life. This arrangement can vary depending on the region’s specialty or culture, but the rice kernel always cooked and coming from the first batch in the morning. This small everyday item portrayed one element in Bali-Hinduism: sacrifice for better and peaceful living between human, nature and the Sang Hyang Widi Wasa.
Just a note, some might get a bit upset once they accidentally stepped upon canang sari that usually placed at the sidewalk near upon a commercial entryway. Many others mistook canang sari as some sort of allurement to visit certain establishment and made them purchase unnecessary item (a group of tourist actually made this remark while taking picture of said canang sari some years ago). Both are simple misunderstanding. Although canang sari is the physical form of everyday prayer, Balinese is aware that certain aspects of nature will somehow destroy the offering, this including stray dogs that feasts upon canang sari, passing by vehicles, and distraught tourist who, naturally, looking front instead of down. As for the allurement theory, it was not so much of alluring customers, but more alluring of luck or even safety for the day. While it is a nice gesture to avoid stepping upon the sacrifice, but you should not have to worry about divine punishment for the action anytime soon when you accidentally do.
Pictures courtesy of Bali Travel Portal.
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