a youth ceremony in Bali

It was the weekend before our wedding in April 2007 and my fiancée and I were wandering around Bali. On a whim, I decided to go to Seminyak, a beach that is increasingly becoming popular as its neighbor, the overwhelmingly commercial center that is Kuta.







We were to get married on an auspicious day in the Balinese calendar (near full moon I remember) so the days around it also tend to be ceremony-heavy. Sure enough, when we dropped by the temple at Seminyak, there already was a crowd hovering by the beach. Practically all were teenagers, with nary an adult guiding them. Too bad I forgot to ask what the occasion was. Maybe it was the commemoration of Saraswati, when students would offer gifts to the goddess of the knowledge and learning. Or perhaps not.







Regardless, I can understand why Bali’s culture remains safe from the dilution of modernity and influence from the external world. Even the youth knows the wisdom of tradition. The heartfelt and easygoing manner they went by the ceremony, from the beach to the temple, showed that custom and faith are in safe hands.