Balinese Life
"Warp and Woof" of Cotton and Thread

When chatting with the Balinese of the 1945 generation, they will probably tell much about their activities then. One of them is cultivating a cotton plant. During the occupation of Japan (1942-1945) in Indonesia and Bali in particular, local people were obliged to plant cotton. It was intended for satisfying the needs of cotton for clothes production. As a consequence, they got accustomed to cultivate this plant, since the very beginning up to its post-harvest time and weaving cloth. So, making a piece of cloth, for them, was no more a hard job.

When ripe, the capsules of cotton known as bolls, split open and reveal a mass of white fibres. These fibres are separated from its seeds by ginning. If in Western country people apply cotton-gin machine (invented by Eli Whitney, 1743), the Balinese use pemipisan, a simple wooden tool operated by hand. Later, this cotton fibre may then be used for offering paraphernalia and another for being spun into yarn. Afterwards, the thread produced can be used for both spiritual needs and making cloth for human needs by traditional weaving.
For the Hindus in Bali, cotton and thread are important for the content of offerings. For example, cotton fibre is used in pengeresikan or pesucian that is symbolically used in purifying rites. Meanwhile, thread is representing a contact with the unseen world (niskala). In modern daily life today, it is just like a wire. When people hold an exorcism rite through the performance of puppet theatre or wayang lemah (screenless theatre), a string of thread is applied. So is done also on a child adoption. A string of thread is applied, symbolizing the contact with the ancestral soul and delivering a notification that a new family member has been added. Meanwhile, at the last moment before burying a dead body, there will be a mapepegat ceremony. It conveys to disconnect the relation of soul with the family. All direct and extended families are usually involved in this. A string of thread is spread between two twigs of erythrina where eleven perforated coins are inserted.
Similarly, thread symbolizes a protection against any disturbances of evil spirits. The months of January till March are considered inauspicious moments in terms of Balinese months or sasih to hold rituals, like manushya and deva yajna, but only bhuta yajna is recommended by the Balinese almanac. To protect against bad influences during these months, an exorcism rite will usually be held by the villagers. As a sign that one has involved or invoked the holy water, his/her wrists are encircled with a bracelet made of three-coloured thread called tridatu. Its colours are red, white and black, which respectively represent the symbolical colour belonging to the lords of Trinity, namely Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. Tridatu colour is also implemented on the inauguration ceremony either for shrine, buildings or so forth, that is rubbed on the part of its surface or pillars. Red colour is made from animal’s blood slaughtered for the ceremony; white from lime for chewing with betel leaves and black from charcoal. This application means to protect its dweller against disturbances from the unseen world under blessing of the gods mentioned above.
Meanwhile, an oil lamp by means of coconut oil is completed with a wick made from cotton that has been twisted or called linting. During the ngaben ceremony in Bali, this lamp is called api angenan. When the lamp extinguishs, it symbolizes that the soul it represents has left flourishingly for the world of afterlife, he/she/it encounters no hindrance and otherwise. Once in a while, people believe that the lamp will extinguish when all members of his family have coalesced together to leave a message and the soul will be ready to go a few moments later. According to Kisanlal Sharma in his book Why Hindu Customs, Rituals and Rite (2006), such a lamp is the symbol of human body. Oil is the life force. The wick is the mind and heart. The flame is the soul and the light it spreads out is spiritual knowledge leading to Power Supreme. This symbolic message is the basic value of a Hindu and he sees the life in that light.
The art of weaving here is combining the lengthwise threads (warp) giving structure to the cloth and the crossing threads that give design and colour (woof). These proceeds are then used for human needs for making clothes and so forth. Then, the thread (another product of cotton) is used to connect human rituals and prayers to God. It’s the essential meaning of cotton and thread, as ‘warp and woof’ where horizontally use is for human needs and vertically use to have contact with God. Today, at a time when cotton plants are rarely cultivated some devotees may replace the natural thread or cotton fibre with the one produced by a factory without diminishing its meaning. (BTN/029)