Bali guide › Religion and temples
What do Bali's canang sari offerings mean, and how to behave?
Banten, the ritual of making offerings, is everywhere in Bali. All Balinese practise it, and every child (especially girls) is introduced to it from a young age. You will see offerings absolutely everywhere: on the pavement, outside a shop or at a temple entrance. Canang sari are small palm-leaf baskets, stitched together with little pieces of bamboo and filled with flowers, rice and sometimes a biscuit, a coin or a cigarette. They are prayers meant to lift the spirit. They are made every day, mostly by women, and placed in the morning and at the end of the day with a little incense and a prayer. They express gratitude to the gods, not a request. So you can put in whatever you like, as long as it is something given from the heart.
Nothing in them is left to chance:
- The colours of the flowers correspond to the compass points and the deities: white in the east (Iswara), red in the south (Brahma), yellow in the west (Mahadewa), blue or green in the north (Vishnu). However, the floral arrangement is free and above all meant to look pretty.
- The porosan is a small bundle of betel leaf, lime and areca nut at the heart of the offering. It looks like a little knot and is always placed at the bottom of the basket, facing outwards, never towards you.
- The incense carries the message up to the gods.
For the big festivals, the offerings change scale: towers of fruit and flowers (gebogan) and bamboo poles bent over and decorated with palm leaves (penjor) line the streets during Galungan and Kuningan, ten days when, by tradition, the ancestors return to visit their descendants. Every temple also celebrates its anniversary, the odalan, every 210 days, with gamelan, dances and processions.
How to behave:
- Watch where you put your feet: walk around offerings, don't step over them (if you can help it), and don't touch them. If you accidentally tread on one, nobody will be offended, but a sheepish smile helps.
- If you meet a procession, step aside and let it pass, without cutting through.
- Photograph discreetly: ask permission before photographing a worshipper at prayer.
- A cremation (ngaben) can seem disconcerting: it is a celebration as much as a farewell. If you are invited, follow what the locals do.
Verdict: the offerings are the quickest way to understand Bali. Notice them, and you start to see the island the way its people do.
Tip: if a family invites you to a ceremony, accept, put on the sarong and sash, and don't worry about the rest: you will be guided. To understand this very important part of Balinese spirituality better, take a small workshop on banten and offering-making (offered in Ubud, among other places, for about IDR 300,000 per person, around US$17). It is a real dive into local Bali.
More landmarks in this section
- What is Bali's religion, and how is Balinese Hinduism different?
- Is Pura Besakih, Bali's mother temple, worth visiting?
- Can you visit Tanah Lot, and what time should you go?
- What is Uluwatu Temple, and how do you visit respectfully?
- Can you join the Tirta Empul purification ritual (melukat)?
- What is Nyepi, the Day of Silence, and what should you do?
- Is Taman Ayun Temple worth visiting?
- What are the best temples to visit in Bali?