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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Lifestyle
Ian Neubauer

Old ways survive in Bali despite mass tourism, but for how long?

Giant effigies are paraded through the streets ahead of the Nyepi festival [File: Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo]

Bali, Indonesia – At dawn, as the first shards of light dance over the rice fields in the seaside village of Seseh on Bali’s west coast, Putu and her husband Made, who like many Indonesians go by one name only, spend an hour reciting prayers and distributing small palm leaf baskets containing offerings to ensure the health of the coming harvest.

Later in the day, their 11-year-old daughter will attend a class for “sanghyang dedari”, a sacred trance dance for girls that is designed to counteract negative supernatural forces.

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