Nyepi ritual Puri Dajuma, Beach Eco-Resort & Spa, West Bali

Nyepi ritual

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This is our 3rd and last blog post on Nyepi ritual. As you may remember, Nyepi stands for one of the most important Hindu ceremony in Bali not only to purify everyone’s soul and body but also to chase away demons and bad feelings while restoring the cosmic balance that is disrupted by man’s greed in exploiting the earth. After the effigies of demons, the so-called Ogoh-Ogoh, are put to fire, everyone takes time for introspection. To do so, four main principles are put in practice:
Amati karya: refraining from working.
Amati geni: refraining from lighting fire or using light.
Amati Lelugan: not going Outside the family compound.
Amati leleanguan: refraining from indulgences.
The entire island is shut down, including the airport, so that no plane lands or takes off on that day. Roads are completely desert. Only for question of life or death, ambulances, police or fire trucks will be alowed to take the road.
At Dajuma, our on duty staff will either come and go back by walk or sleep at the premises. The Pecalang (Religious Police) discretely monitors if the principles are observed. Several expat come from downtown Bali to escape and all guests appreciate this moment of serenity. One can ask himself: what are 24 hours of silence in a human life?
Come and experience next Nyepi on Monday, March 31st 2014!

Ogoh-Ogoh Puri Dajuma, Beach Eco-Resort & Spa, West Bali

Ogoh-Ogoh

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A month or so before the D-Day, every village prepares demonic effigies made of papier-mâché and bamboo called ogoh-ogoh. Those are taken by hand to the main island cross sections where they are put to fire while others make noise and play music to chase away the demons for another year. As Dajuma’s staff comes from 2 villages, there is a kind of soft competition between them by which people are selected to carry the best Ogoh-Ogoh in the area.

Melasti Ritual Puri Dajuma, Beach Eco-Resort & Spa, West Bali

Melasti Ritual

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Bali is well known for the importance of the Hindu religion which is part of everyone’s life in the island. As such, rituals are common in Bali and some of them keep Balinese people busy in a way that looks very unusual to foreigners. This is why we thought it might be of interest to our readers to get a better insight into one of these : Nyepi (silence day). This consists in a series of rituals that will be described in the next three blog posts. The first one is Melasti Ritual, 4 days before Nyepi. It is dedicated to Sanghyang Widhi Wasa, the “All-In-One God” or supreme god of Indonesian Hinduism, a term invented in the 1930s by Christian missionaries to describe the Christian god to the Balinese. Thousands of white dressed Hindu people bring all the ceremonies equipment and the symbol of gods (spears, banners, statues, …) to the sea or other water sources that are believed by Hindus as a place to purify everyone’s heart or soul and all other elements in the universe. Melasti’s ceremony is supposed to keep people and things away from bad influences. Dajuma’s team went to the village temple together with 3000 people in the morning. Later in the afternoon, our team carried out the same smaller scale ceremony in Dajuma’s sea temple. The next couple of days, all the community will be busy preparing more offerings for rituals. Next week, we shall explain Ogoh-Ogoh, the evening before Nyepi or Silent day.

ITB: Dajuma in Berlin! Puri Dajuma, Beach Eco-Resort & Spa, West Bali

ITB: Dajuma in Berlin!

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Every year in March, takes place in Berlin, the world leading travel trade show. The 2013 edition was scheduled from March 6th to 10th. and Indonesia was the official partner country. This year, for the first time, the International fair was opened by Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and by H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia. 8 million people visited Indonesia in 2012. About 120 exhibitors represented Indonesia during ITB 2013. Dajuma has been participating since 2002. Every year, ITB offers new opportunities to promote Dajuma and to meet travel agents who search for exclusive and very unique resorts for their guests, faraway from Bali crowded South. 10 thousand kilometers from our peaceful Pekutatan, Puri Dajuma is proud to support his great team by sharing in ITB Dajuma’s breakthrough in its world class hospitality services with its historical and new partners!

Taiwan to Dajuma on two wheels

Taiwan to Dajuma on two wheels

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Last week, we had the privilege to welcome a group of 12 brave cyclists (8 men, 4 women) from The Rotary Club of Taiwan, traveling from Kuta to Dajuma in a single day (80km). The challenge was organized by one of the oldest Taiwanese tour operator in Bali: J.F.Y Tour. The tour leader, Mr. Darwin Richard has been working and living in Bali for 11 years. He was only 16 year old when he started his business, making him the youngest Taiwanese tour guide based in Bali: what a passion! To re-envigorate the team, Dajuma’s chef prepared a nice Balinese buffet dinner on the grass, accompanied by Gambalan music. All the team enjoyed the sunset, sitting in circle to talk and exchange experiences in our peaceful and inspiring tropical garden. The next morning, they continued their journey towards Lovina. The cycling tour will end in Candidasa. The last leg of the tour will be done by bus and they will enjoy their last night in Sanur before taking the plane back to Taipei. Though their stay was rather short, we are sure they could feel the essence of real Bali while staying with us. They should have stayed one more night so as to experience some of the most Bali representative trails around here. We wish them a safe ride and trip back to Taiwan with not only soared legs but also with the mind filled with nice souvenirs of Bali and Dajuma.

Puri Dajuma Team

Go green action

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Since its inception in 2000, the environment has been a central topic in Dajuma’s operations. Not only any aspect of its hospitality activities has been carefully reviewed to tune the lowest possible environmental impact (selection of organic food from regional suppliers, eco lab products for the cleaning, no chemicals for the garden, …), our team also acts proactively once every 3 weeks by collecting any rubbish left behind by the tide or the rain on the beach, along the road or in the rain forest. Though the area is rural with an initial low environmental concern, Dajuma bit by bit got the support from both the head of the village and that of the regional governor to get the villagers sensitive to the protection of their environment. While a few years ago it took us 3h to get around the whole circuit, we can now close the loop in less than 1 hour. This shows that everybody now pays more attention to the protection of their environment. Our guests also join and take part happily in this responsible action every 3rd saturday or sunday of the month. Our former director I Gede Indra Yasa was a key initiator of this action and though he passed away already one month ago, we strongly feel how important this action is to not only remember him but also put in practice his life guiding principle, the so-called Tri Hita Karana within which the connection between human beings and nature (“pelemahan”) is one of its 3 key building blocks.

Dancing with the dolphins

Dancing with the dolphins

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Dajuma’s unique location is the starting point of many exhilarating half-day trips to unsuspected locations. One of them, deeply rooted in everybody’s dreams, is Perancak’s Dolphin tour where you can admire wild dolphin families playing in the straight of Bali a few kilometers off shore Dajuma. Surprising isn’t it? But don’t take us wrong: this is not an attraction, this is a gift of God. If you are a serious wild life protector, you will accept a wake up call at 4h30 to be on the sea at sun rise, taken there by a praho (local boat) from Perancak harbour. At 6h30 you will start to scrutinize the ocean. Suddenly the magic will happen. Dolphin’s ballet, all around you. Our praho will gently follow them. But remember: those dolphins are wild and follow banks of small fish that serve them as breakfast. Again as a serious wild life protector, you will have to accept to see no dolphins at all. At least you will have shared a day of the fishermen’s everyday life in the outstanding setting of an ocean sunrise bound by Bali’s and Java’s chain of volcanos. A good moment of friendship and exclusive focus on the marine natural surroundings of Bali. How often can you expect this in our actual world? Come and join us!

Perancak - fishing boat

Perancak Bugis

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30 km from Dajuma, the peaceful village of Loloan harbors an amazing history. It was settled by natives from Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Malaysia. They landed on Bali West coast on board of their unique Bugis to escape from the Dutch oppression. Those refugees soon became an important community of fishermen. The traditional jukung and sampan have been sailing off shore Negara, Rambut Siwi , Medewi and Pekutatan for the last 350 years. Their fishing technique requires two Bugis (boats). One of them is equipped with a captain chair raised 10 meters above sea level to locate the fishes. A net attached between the two boats catches them. These colorful Bugis became one of West Bali unique treasures.

Lt Col Ngurah Rai National Monument - Puri Dajuma - Pekutatan Puri Dajuma, Beach Eco-Resort & Spa, West Bali

Lt Col Ngurah Rai National Monument – Puri Dajuma – Pekutatan

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It is an important landmark in memory of a national hero Lt Col Ngurah Rai who was born on 30 January 1917 in the village of Carangsari. After the Indonesian Declaration of Independence he established the People’s Security Army which opposes the 2,000 Dutch troops who had landed on 2 and 3 March 1946 in Tabanan. He Arrived on Pekutatan shores by boat and walked to Tabanan to attack the Dutch forces headquarters. On 20 November 1946, the Dutch launched a large scale attack on Marga supported by aircraft. Lt. Col Ngurah Rai ordered a Puputan, (fight to the death). He died with 95 others during the Indonesian Revolution. The battle is now known as the Battle of Margarana. Ngurah Rai was buried in Marga. On 9 August 1975, he was made a national hero via Presidential Decision Ngurah Rai International Airport, in Bali is named for him and he appears also on the IDR50,000 note. Each year the government come to repair and repaint the monument before August 17, which is ROI Independance day. Dajuma is proud to share a part of indonesian history.

Indra Funerals

Indra’s funerals

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“I can’t believe it…” that’s what everyone feels about Indra’s passing away: he was only 38 old. So many friends around the world sent touching messages, far beyond simple condolences. Several of them who celebrated Puri Dajuma 10th anniversary came back from Europe, while those who could not were praying at the same time in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore, Beijing, Netherlands, Holland, USA, Mexico… Hundreds of people were with him last Sunday during the main ceremony in Pekutatan. Beyond any religion everyone can believe that Indra’s spirit will remain with us. Om shanti shanti shanti.