Balinese traditional society treated flowers with very different way from international new society. In Bali flowers are not considered potential commodity for business, although there are some flower vendors can be seen on the road side. Balinese house wives need flowers at least one fourth kilogram per week for making ceremony. This number will be increased fourfold during big ceremonies which is commonly every village at least has 9 times big religious ceremonies a year. To fill this need every family usually plants some kind of flowers in their land in limited number. Among dozens of cultivated flowers, there are some of them can not be used in religious ceremony with the reason that the source of the flower related with bad myth such as the origin of flower to be said from nasty and dirty place.
Within the ceremony itself there are classification
of flowers, some can be used to make offering to gods,
and some can only be used for offering to the lower
beings. People believe that the cosmic order is divided
into 3 layers. The highest layer is the abode of gods
and holy spirits, the middle is the human world, and
the lowest or the nether world is the place of inferior
beings. What is meant inferior beings by Balinese belief,
is hard to explain. Normally people believe that the
spirits of lower animals, human spirits that are not
accepted in the place of gods due to his/her bad conduits
during his/her life time. According to the belief human
senses can not reveal both superior beings and inferior
beings due to it's limitation. It makes us curious with
the discovering of low frequency sound that human could
not hear, and infra-red that human eyes could not see.
It is probably correlated and revealed by thinker in
the past by intuition. Thank to human genius that a
tool to hear or see such phenomenon beyond human being
has been invented. For Balinese these 3 layers of the
universe need rituals to keep the harmony. In this case
the meaning of flower is very special, and is believed
to be able to allure the spirits to come and enjoy the
offering. By appeasing this spirits than there will
be no commotional cosmos, and they will be staying at
their own premise. That is why at every occasion when
Balinese are praying they always using flower, fire,
and water, and flower can not be changed, while fire
and water is tolerable.
Balinese tradition do not introduce him/herself by sending
flower as a token of sympathy, love and condolence.
Although there are some tradition like this can be seen
in the cities, it is just the etiquette of theatrical
people and those who imitate western practice. Among
the residents of the cities in Bali sending artificial
flower started to develop during1970s, but this trend
seems to be withdrawing, and people back to the previous
tradition, especially for Balinese residents.
Roses grows well every where on the land of Bali. We
in Bali have 3 kind of Roses i.e. strong red color,
white, and almost orange color. It will difference in
color if the roses are planted in the highland or if
it is planted on the low land. On the highland the color
of roses grow very strong red, clean white or clear
orange, but on the low land the color become fade and
some time not solid. Some petals may grows unevenly.
It is mostly grown by Balinese ladies as garden, not
as materials for religious rituals. Any kind of roses
which is grown on the highland will bear it's flowers
without season, it will always giving flower all the
months, except there is climate abnormality. Harvested
flower provided it is put in the shade it can stay for
3 to 4 days, but if it is harvested with it flower stick
long enough and put it's stick in the vas containing
salty water it can stay for a week. The perfume of roses
which is not strong, has also causing it is not popular
among Balinese. It is different from Champaka which
aroma is very strong and arousing. There are 3 divisions
of champaka popular among Balinese are white champaka,
yellow champaka, and Kananga. White champaka has the
strongest aroma, while Kananga radiating a very typical
aroma and arousing, the more it is dry the more strong
it's fragrance. Despite the fact the development of
hotel and Spa program in Bali, but Balinese do not see
this opportunity as a business resources, they still
plant just for self-sufficiency, and ironically flowers
are imported from Java, as well as young palm leaves
for the religious ceremony. After the tragedy of WTC
and Kuta, the number of tourist coming to Bali has been
steadily declining, and these suppliers have now suffered,
while alternative market yet be established.
It is actually a great chance to grow roses for the
market of Singapore which is only 3 hours flight from
Denpasar, Bali. Central highland of Bali is not yet
cultivated well, mostly neglected, most younger generation
moved to the city to pursue fancy jobs. The only problem
it might be the technology to keep the flower stay fresh
longer, at least a week until it arrived at the shops
if the shop do not have freezer room. Cheap land hiring,
plenty of cheap low skill workers are great advantage
to grow this kind of flower in the mountain area of
Bali. Most of the land is used for short live vegetables,
beans, and corns. These kind of horticulture is just
for self-sufficiency with totally no business orientation,
so most of the land is still empty, and some big parts
are neglected. There are some long live plantation such
as coffee, cacao, and various fruits which are also
not get proper cultivation management.
Denpasar, 27 January 2003
I Made Terima |
