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Foreign
Tourist Cares for Bali
Foreign tourists visiting Bali do not only
want to have a nice holiday. Some of them
also care a lot about this island of thousand
temples. Their care is implemented through
several activities such as done by Terje
Nelson, a tourist from Norway.
 Due
to his affection of Bali, he spent quite
a long time in Bali. Terje who is familiarly
called Made Geria, organized on Saturday
(23/9) a charity activity involving some
entrepreneurs, students and the management
of an international school as well as expatriates
who already live in Bali for a long time.
This activity took place at the Canggu Club.
This charity activity consisted of coupon
drawing, auction of paintings and masks.
Similarly, the event had many children activities
such as making canang offerings, making
a kite and doing some horse riding. To grace
the event, an art performance called "Genjek
a capella" was presented by devotees
of Tuluk Biyu Temple (Kintamani) and also
a documentary film entitled ‘Bali
Cinta Damai’ (Bali Loves Peace) was
shown to the public. "This film recounted
several kinds of illustration of Balinese
people facing the tragedy of Bali Bomb I
and II. They mostly performed self-introspection,
not revenge," said Terry.
As mentioned further, the aim of this activity
was to raise funds in conjunction with the
Grandiose Dewasraya ceremony at the Tuluk
Biyu Temple, Kintamani – Bangli, coming
October 7, 2006. Mr. Terje is very concerned
about the condition of the temple. This
temple is being taken care off by 700 household
heads of supporting devotees, but their
incomes are barely enough to live on. "Their
intention to organize the ritual is not
merely for the sake of their own region,
but also for Bali and the entire universe.
For that reason, we try to help them,"
he affirmed.
In fact, the Tuluk Biyu temple has a long
recorded history and is still connected
with the ancient kingdoms of Bali, East
Java and even China. "Bali is not only
visited by tourists due to the allurement
of its nature, but also because of its unique
and high-valued culture. This should be
maintained by the entire Balinese community
including the devotees of the temple,"
he stated firmly while adding that the occurrence
of a number of disasters like volcanic eruptions,
floods and tsunamis required the execution
of a grandiose Dewasraya ceremony.
Ketut Sudana, Chairman of the Committee
for the ceremony explained that some temple
shrines needed renovation. The needed funds
was estimated to reach some IDR 327 million,
while for the Dewasraya ceremony itself
another IDR 600 million is needed, so in
total an amount of IDR 1 billion is needed.
In the meantime, the funds that are momentarily
available amount to IDR 280 million. "We
are very grateful towards Mr. Terje and
thank him very much for his care and concern
regarding the Tuluk Biyu Temple," he
said.
He also explained that his party has performed
some activities since last 14 August by
setting up tetaring or temporary shelters.
Then, it was followed by a melasti procession
to Tirta Sah, Rendang, pakelem at Lake Batur
and mountaintop of Abang. Meanwhile, the
peak of the ceremony will happen on 7 October.
"We have held a similar ceremony in
1996 but it was just a medium-scale one,"
he observed while adding that the first
ceremony was organized by the King Sri Warmadewa
in 1103. (BTN/015)
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