Bali Hindu Religious Schools
Feb 27th, 2009, in News, by Patung
The building of specifically Hindu religious schools for primary and secondary education in Bali.
The provincial parliament of Bali, DPRD Bali, has instructed all regencies and towns of Bali to begin preparations for the establishment of Hindu religious schools, sometimes called “sekolah plus Hindu”.
Parliamentarian Ketut Karyasa Adnyana says the schools, from kindergarten through to primary, junior and senior high school, will be operational by 2010. The issue of building such schools however has been mooted for many years without much ensuing action taking place.
Ketut added that due to the considerable shortage of qualified Hindu teachers of religion those with teaching qualifications in other disciplines would have to be recruited to teach Hindu subjects in the new schools. Such subjects will include:
- Balinese, Old Javanese (Kawi), & Sanskrit
- Wedic knowledge
- yoga
- ritual, chanting & ceremony
Other, more general subjects will taught within a Hindu framework of understanding.
Currently it is said there are only a handful of Hindu elementary and secondary schools in Bali, while schools on the standard national curriculum are only required to teach a few hours of religion a week. Supporters of “sekolah plus Hindu” often speak about it as a matter of urgency, in order to save Balinese culture and religion from whatever threats they are thought to face. selebzone
49 Comments on “Bali Hindu Religious Schools”
-
ET says:
hein said
The richness I found within this religion was beyond my wildest dreams.
Even agnosts will whole-heartedly concur.
-
Lairedion says:
ET said:
Even agnosts will whole-heartedly concur.
That has to do with the sex appeal Bali has to bules, making them turning a blind eye towards the absurdities of the Hindu religion.
-
Oigal says:
making them turning a blind eye towards the absurdities of the Hindu religion.
As opposed to the absurbities of Islam..Christianity..Buddhism.. Flying horses, water to wine..birth thru slits in the side of the body…yup, no worries on that account
-
Mike Oxblack says:
Subjects:
Balinese, Old Javanese (Kawi), & Sanskrit
Wedic knowledge
yoga
ritual, chanting & ceremony..
————————————–…Geography? Maths? History? Modern languages?
——————-The richness I found within this religion was beyond my wildest dreams
Before we totally go overboard sucking Ganesha’s throbbing trunk it’s worth remembering the oppression and social discrimination that the Hindu caste system engenders. Look at India’s Untouchables. It’s India’s pinkos and social activists who have been trying to lift this oppression in recent years.
Also, if by ‘richness’ you mean stuff like elephant headed deities then you’re undoubtedly correct. The religion’s founders were clearly ripped to their tiny tits on psilocybin ‘shrooms if you ask me..which nobody is admittedly.
-
Lairedion
That has to do with the sex appeal Bali has to bules, making them turning a blind eye towards the absurdities of the Hindu religion.
This is probably the reason why they stay agnosts.
-
zekky says:
Besides when have hindus in Indonesia been militant, or violent?
In 1965 didn’t they kill proportionally more of their own people than Pol Pot during his entire rule? I believe they also used Hindu legends to justify the massacre.
And they still burned royal widows in 1905.
That said, I know many Muslim Javanese who love the Balinese today.
-
sanj says:
A Muslim talks of absurdity in others…now that is a funny joke.
As for caste Bali and developments in India are not comparible. There is no concept of untouchable in Hindu texts, that is a development within the last 2000 years in India and was/is not found amongst native Hindu populations outside the subcontiant.
Better for the Balinese give the finger to the sham Indonesian republic and go thier seperate way.
-
Odinius says:
zekky said:
In 1965 didn’t they kill proportionally more of their own people than Pol Pot during his entire rule?
No. 80,000 (approx) died in Bali. This made it proportionately the largest regional death toll in the 65-7 massacres, though absolute numbers were much higher in Central and East Java. But not even close to what happened in Cambodia, where 1/3 of the population died.
@sanj: you must be from India. Balinese Hindus actually like Indonesia and are generally among the most patriotic and nationalistic Indonesians. But then again, Balinese Hinduism is quite a different version of the faith than the dominant Indian varieties, particularly Hindutva.
-
sanj said
As for caste Bali and developments in India are not comparible.
Every society, every civilization, from the most primitive to the most elaborate, knows some form of caste. I don’t know whether it has been corroborated by anthropological research but in every human society all over the world I see groups of people having different institutionalized tasks and responsibilities. The Vedas call it warna or colours. In broad outlines these warna are:
– a group of people responsible for security and administering community affairs, the military and political class. Hindus call them Ksatrya or the arms of Brahman.
– a group of people responsible for spiritual and intellectual development, the priestly, educational and media class. Hindus call them Brahmana or the head of Brahman.
– a group of people responsible for providing food and economic necessities. Hindus call them Vaiseya or the belly of Brahman.
– a group of people, the majority, responsible for carrying out the orders given by the three former leading classes. Hindus call them Shudra or the legs of Brahman.Hindus in India were the first to use this stratification as a basis for their comprehensive philosophical worldview. It would provide stability and continuity in an otherwise chaotic environment. The original concept of warna which was open and accessible to those who possessed the necessary qualifications however became ‘corrupted’ and changed into warga, a notion connected with birth and descent.
This shift to what we now consider to be ‘caste’ was understandable in an era when education still wasn’t democratized and the passing on of skills, knowledge and social networking went primarily along family lines. On top of that it certainly can’t be denied that the privileges of the leading classes – as they exist in any other society – had to be protected and what could be more appropriate than to translate them into religious dogma.
The latest developments however – as I see them translated into Hindu religious books in Bali – tend to deviate from the classic view of keturunan and return to the original concept of warna, an evident consequence of the now compulsory schooling system for every child.
In general caste in Bali is something that is only obvious in ceremonial matters but it lingers on in what one here refers to as adat or tradition. No one really understands why some things are being done but no one dares to ask and in order not to disrupt harmony one keeps on doing them. One example of this, which I personally find appalling, is the fact that lungsuran, i.e. the remnants of temple offerings which may be eaten after being consecrated, are not allowed to be shared with people of lower castes, even if they are poor children. -
I personally find appalling, is the fact that lungsuran, i.e. the remnants of temple offerings which may be eaten after being consecrated, are not allowed to be shared with people of lower castes, even if they are poor children.
Seriously? These days? Where?
-
Where?
In Gianyar, which cannot be considered a backwater.
-
Oh, gianyar…. no wonder. Lots of “high-caste” people there…. The cokordas and anak agungs. But depends, which puris? 😀
*vomit*
-
The Cokordas in particular….ugh. 🙂
-
Actually the title Cokorda is a contraction of two words cokor, meaning foot, and dewa meaning god, so something like ‘Divine Foot’. The underlying message is that ordinary folks had to crawl in the dust and were just good enough to look up and talk to this divine person’s foot, if they were allowed to talk at all. There seem to have been times this was literally the case. In the wayang theatre the servant Tualen always uses the full ‘Cokor Dewa’ when he talks to his master. The use of the term is equivalent to the old Javanese paduka (shoe) which is still used as a form of address e.g. Paduka Yang Mulia meaning His Excellency.
-
The Cokordas in particular….ugh. 🙂
Patung, what was that “ugh”? Were you vomiting too? Y porque? 😀
-
I guess you were vomiting patung. Let me guess, google told you something amusing about cokorda (?).
-
No I just remember someone on the site who had a very long name with “Cokorda” in it….I need to spell it out?
-
jitindia says:
Hi to every body . I like to know about hindu society of indonesia.. i am from India
Comment on “Bali Hindu Religious Schools”.
Copyright Indonesia Matters 2006-2025
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact
9/11 is too little to undermine Islam as faith but it was only awakening curiosity the other faith about Islam, even according to some research more and more people are turning to Islam after 9/11, therefore, whoever hate Islam try bit harder otherwise it will only lengthen the list below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_converts_to_Islam