Faces of Bali

Tanah Lot
Participants of Melasti Ritual
Every year aound March Balinese will perform the Melasti ceremony. On that day the Balinese villagers will purify their deities known as "Pratima" with water.
The villagers will dressed in their finery (in white) & carrying long-poled umbrellas, proceed in lines and proceed towards a souce of water, either a holy spring or the sea.
In this walking procession the women will carry with them offerings of fruits, flowers & sweat cakes. The men will carry the sacred family deities on bamboo litters. On arriving at the source of water the "Pedanda" (High Priest) will pray and ring his small bells. The men carrying the litters will rush their sacred statues into the water to wash them in order to symbolically purify them.

Sanur





Mdm Melly St. Ange, President of Bali International Women's Association

BIWA). She is standing for election to Indonesia's Parliament as a candidate for Partai Democratic in the forthcoming elections in April, 2009

Sanur Beach


Satay seller operating a stall at the cross-roads between the Sanur market & the beach. His satay is of the type popular in Madura, an island off Java. The sweet black sauce is quite similar to the Chinese thick soya sauce, not the typical Indonesian/Malay peanut sauce cooked with chilly/curry paste.