02-20-2004, 09:24 PM
Bali: More Hindu than the Indian Hindus
The names on houses, the statues at traffic junctions and even the road names strike a note of familiriaty. A tourist also does not miss the odd flower that is prominently placed on the dashboard of the taxi and the incense stick burning near the steering of the taxi he is travelling in or, the temples that dot the landscape.
So, one is greeted with a huge statue of the mythological character Ghatotkacha of Mahabharat fame as one enters Bali from the Denpasar international airport or turns into a road named Arjuna while visiting various districts of the island.
There might be a huge painting of Krishna advising Arjuna on his chariot in an internet cafe.
This is Bali. One of the thousand-odd islands in the Indonesian peninsula. The island in Muslim Indonesia that has 95 per cent of its population of Hindus. We are more Hindus than the Hindus in India, says the taxi driver who proudly proclaims that he is a Hindu pointing towards the offering placed on the dashboard. The Indonesian Government protects our religion assiduously. Most schools have a Hindu religion teacher who, besides parents and priests, is the Balinese equivalent of a guru, he says.
Continued,....
The names on houses, the statues at traffic junctions and even the road names strike a note of familiriaty. A tourist also does not miss the odd flower that is prominently placed on the dashboard of the taxi and the incense stick burning near the steering of the taxi he is travelling in or, the temples that dot the landscape.
So, one is greeted with a huge statue of the mythological character Ghatotkacha of Mahabharat fame as one enters Bali from the Denpasar international airport or turns into a road named Arjuna while visiting various districts of the island.
There might be a huge painting of Krishna advising Arjuna on his chariot in an internet cafe.
This is Bali. One of the thousand-odd islands in the Indonesian peninsula. The island in Muslim Indonesia that has 95 per cent of its population of Hindus. We are more Hindus than the Hindus in India, says the taxi driver who proudly proclaims that he is a Hindu pointing towards the offering placed on the dashboard. The Indonesian Government protects our religion assiduously. Most schools have a Hindu religion teacher who, besides parents and priests, is the Balinese equivalent of a guru, he says.
Continued,....