Balinese set to welcome ‘Galungan Cina’ feast

Dozens of Balinese of Chinese descent were busy cleaning effigies and ceremonial items at Cao Eng Bio Tridharma temple at Tanjung Benoa village in Badung regency.

Clad in traditional Balinese dress, Ni Wayan Rangki, a 65-year-old Balinese Hindu, was cleaning one of the effigies saying : “I am here to help my Chinese brothers and sisters prepare for Galungan Cina, [the local term for Chinese Lunar New Year].

”For Balinese Hindu society, Galungan, which falls every six months according to the Balinese calendar, is one of the biggest celebrations of the year. Therefore, the locals always refer to Chinese Lunar New Year as Galungan Cina,” he said.

Rangki, who has 11 grandchildren, and her husband have been working at the temple for the last 15 years serving temple visitors when they want to perform prayers.

“We [local Balinese and Chinese community] have been living here in the village for hundreds of years, and therefore we view them as our Braya [families] regardless our religious and ethnic differences,” said Rangki.

The Chinese community in Tanjung Benoa village is thought to have landed on the island of Bali in the 16th Century.

The Cao Eng Bio temple was estimated to have been built in the year 1546. Tanjung Benoa was once a traditional harbor where Chinese vessels dropped various trade items such as textiles and ceramics
and bought various commodities from Bali.

The 49-year-old Made Budi Antara, or Siaw Cin, recalled the memory of his ancestors. “My great grandparents were thought to be the first settlers in Tanjung Benoa, which was then a forested area.”

Antara is among the latest generation of the first Chinese settlers in Tanjung Benoa. “There are only seven families of direct descendants of the pioneer settlers in the village. The other families had decided to move to other places such as Surabaya in East Java,” he said.

During Chinese Lunar New Year, however, all families of the first Chinese settlers would gather at the temple to pray for their ancestors and celebrate the new year.

The Cao Eng Bio temple is built within the Hindu Temple complex of Pura Dalem Ning.

— JP/Ni Komang Erviani