0 Celebrating Christmas, Palasari-style

Palasari in Jembrana, west Bali, some 115 kilometers west of Denpasar, is usually a quiet hamlet, home to dozens of Balinese Catholic families. However, in the few days leading up to Christmas, extravagant and artistic holiday ornaments beautifully adorn the village. The 24-year-old I Gusti Ngurah Putra Berna Adiputra was helping his mother arrange fruit and flowers dedicated to his late father, I Gusti Putu Darmawan, who died three years ago. The mother and son were also preparing a beautiful offering for the Christmas Eve mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic church. 

The Christmas ornaments were arrangements of young coconut leaves combined with colorful flowers and fresh fruit. The village’s roads, houses as well as the church were all beautified with Balinese-style decorations. Developed in the 1940s, the village was once wild forest. Led by Catholic priest Simon Bois, 22 Balinese men from Tuka and Bringkit villages in Badung embarked on a journey to the western part of the island to set up a hamlet, now one of the oldest Catholic villages in Bali. The 22 men had just converted to Catholicism and helped the priest develop 200 hectares of land in Palasari, a nutmeg forest, granted to them by the king of Bali on Sept. 15, 1940. 

Nowadays, during Christmas Eve mass, the village women wear their most refined kebaya (traditional blouses made of delicate lace or silk) teamed with ornate songket (woven cloth with gold thread), while flowers decorate their hair. The men are clad in white shirts, woven ikat, along with udeng headgear. The sight is common in most Balinese villages, especially during major religious festivals like Galungan, Kuningan, Saraswati or odalan (family or village temple celebrations). But in Palasari, people head to the huge Hati Kudus (Sacred Heart) Catholic church located in the center of the village to celebrate Christmas or attend mass. 

Built in 1954 and completed in 1958, the church has become the center of religious and social activity for Palasari residents, the largest Catholic community in Bali. During the Christmas and New Year holidays everyone in the village is in a festive mood. At Christmas, the interior of the church, which features Gothic arches, is decorated with a myriad of white lilies, red roses and other flowers. There are also two large Balinese gebogan (an arrangement of fresh fruit and colorful rice cakes attached by skewers to a length of banana trunk) placed beside the church altar, close to the Christmas tree. 

In Balinese Hinduism, gebogan are usually used as an offering to the gods. The Sacred Heart church, built on a 36,000-square meter plot of land, is a superb blend of European Gothic and Balinese architectural styles. Father Ignatius A. M. de Vriese designed it with the assistance of two Balinese architectural experts, Ida Bagus Tugur from Denpasar and I Gusti Nyoman Rai from Dalung, Kuta, who were both prominent figures in the Balinese Hindu community. Palasari consists of 10 banjar (traditional communities). Three of the banjar are predominantly Catholic residents, one Muslim and seven Hindu. 

I Gusti Wisnu Purwadi, one of the direct descents of the pioneer Balinese Catholics, said that despite their Catholic faith, Palasari villagers still strongly adhered to Balinese traditions and culture. “We still proudly preserve Balinese culture. All the people here are Balinese. It will never change,” Purwadi said.

source : bali daily