11 Etiquettes to Take Note From Before You Visit Bali Temples

Bali is perfectly modern and conservative at the same time. It is an island for thousands of ancient temples yet a paradise for exotic hippy fiesta all at once. We can feel, we can witness, that the presence of spirituality is deeply penetrated and attached to every layer of balinese people’s daily life. The shrines eat up a dominant hectares of Bali’s tourist attractions. When planning to be a guest, we might be trapped in puzzlement due to your will to be respectful and courteous, but lack of familiarity with the customs and cultures here. Even though the temples embody Hindu and Buddhist legacy, they open their hand widely to welcome all people irrespective of their religions, races, or genders. In order to help you, we will together go through some basic etiquettes to take note of. All to ensure your smooth temple tour without having to induce offence to anyone or anything.

Sarong or Sash to Wear Hundreds of stalls in Bali are selling rainbow-like and uniquely patterned sarong you can purchase. Since it is very reasonably priced, why don’t you invest in one or two to bring to all your temple tour? Unless you unintentionally left the sarong in your place, you can still rent it on-the-spot. Wearing long pants or long skirt will exempt you from wearing one. The main point is to wrap up your lower limp, especially the knees.

Cover Your Shoulder and Back Tops like tank tops, backless ones, crop tops, low cut, are better saved for the cheeky times at the beaches. For shrine visit, opt for those that cover your upper limp well. The key is to be decently modest in terms of outfit.

No Bleeding Either for women who coincide with the bloodful period of the month, or anyone (men/women) who happens to be heavily bleeding, are unfortunately not allowed to enter the holy place. Since blood flow is unconsidered unholy, you should consider re-planning your temple visit if you are menstruating or deeply wounded. No need to be surprised if the local keepers do a quick check by asking whether or not you are on menstruation cycle, that is completely normal.

No Pregnancy With a baby inside the tummy for 7 months and above, or if you just gave birth within 6 weeks, you are also banned from entering. This has something to do with superstitions or beliefs that pregnant women have potential to attract unwanted spirits that might cause harm to both mother and baby. Also emergencies like stools passing or urination are said to tarnish such sacred area.

Do Not Point Your Feet to The Altar Again, since feet are always in contact with ground that is counted as “dirty”, feet are counted as impure. Notice the position of the altar and where your feet are facing, make sure to always make it the opposite. When men usually cross their legs, women usually kneel in prayer.

Head Lower Than Priest During a ceremony with a priest leading on, your head should not be higher than the priest’s. Kneel when they kneel, and stand up when instructed. To disobey this shows a lack of respect and can alude the locals. Take Off Shoes Still related to “impure” feet, it is worse for the shoes because they come in direct contact with the dirts on land. Some particular areas will strictly require you to take it off first before placing your feet onto that. The sign should be very visible or just follow the large crowd of shoes lying around.

Donation is Implicitly Expected Entrance fee for temples in most cases are non-existent. Nevertheless, it is implicitly expected for the visitors to donate the amount they think is reasonable. If you are truly unfamiliar, Rp. 10,000 is a suitable minimum. The donations are allocated for the maintenance to conserve the history for upcoming visitors to enjoy, just like you do.

Keep Your Volume Proper Do not shout, do not yell, do not cheer. Many people are coming to pray and offer tribute to the divine, your loud voice can shatter the solemn silence. That is a common understanding that interfering one’s prayer is uncivilized.

Take Photo With Distance We understand that many objects and events catch your attention and you want to keep it in your memory. You can capture it, but do not take it too up-close, be aware of your position not to impede between praying people, and do not climb just to obtain better angle.

Positive Mind. Positive Action. Lastly, your energy, thought, and action are what matters the most. Positive thought will conduce positive action, and vice versa. These thoughts and actions are energy, and these are what you diffuse to the universe. “You reap what you sow”, so there is no reason not to be positive at all times possible. With these precepts you keep in mind, you are a lost kid no more. Now you just found out how to behave mannerly and politely in accordance to local rules. To put it simply, as long as you keep your awareness and common sense on, congratulations, you belong to the group of “responsible and thoughtful visitor”.