Hindu gods are believed to enjoy beauty.

Women worshippers dress in form-fitting kebaya, sleek their hair into elegant buns and pop on red lipstick before heading to temple. Meanwhile, men head to prayers in luxurious double sarongs with embroidered gold-thread borders. Carrying complex and colorful offerings enhances the vision of people make offering to the gods '€” right down to the vessels bearing offerings of fruits, meats and flowers.

In a little hollow between the mountains and tropical forests, almost the entire village of Sebatu has been given over to the production of these vessels for offerings.

Here are made large plates called narai, graceful pedestal bowls called dulang and small dishes known as bokor. Also made here are temple decorations called salang, a knotted wall hanging of kepeng coins and the embroidered and beaded lamak textiles.

Richly carved and glittering with gold leaf, the bowls and platters are utilitarian pieces of fine art. One craftsman who has devoted his life to their creation is 48-year-old Wayan Budi Tama, who began the long process of learning when in primary school. He has been carving so long that the whetstone used to sharpen chisels has been worn away through its center.

Finery: Resin ceremonial bowls that are so well molded they appear to be carved from wood.'€œI learned to carve when I was in class six of primary school. I learned from my father who was taught by a family friend. We are well known now for carving wanci and narai,'€ Tama said.

'€œIt is becoming rare to still make these from wood. In the past, this area was known for its arts and the crafting of these ceremonial bowls. It started here in Sebatu,'€ says Tama of a skill that is rapidly being lost to mass production of resin wanci.

'€œI still make wanci from sacred woods, such as magnolia and sandalwood. Sure, you can build a house from jackfruit or teak, but for the temple it must be sacred wood. One piece will take 15 days to carve and then several days more to paint with a red base, which throws a contrast for the gold leaf,'€ Tama says. '€œOthers now make wanci from fiberglass, but not us.'€

Tama said that he and his wife only used wood vessels for their offerings, despite the added weight and cost. '€œOld wood has charisma. I believe it develops a soul after years of use. Fiberglass has no soul. It'€™s just like plastic and I feel the gods must be disappointed seeing their offerings in fiberglass wanci.'€

His wife, 36-year-old Wayan Renis, who works alongside her husband weaving rattan offering boxes, agrees.

'€œCertainly, carved wooden bowls are far more expensive. This dulang [large pedestal bowl] will sell for around US$150, but gold leaf is very expensive as is the sacred wood, whereas a fiberglass dulang is around $50. I have never used one of those. If I took that to temple I would have no self confidence,'€ says Renis, whose Sebatu home is nestled between two sacred springs near the ancient Gunung Kawi temple complex.

A short stroll away is the home industry of resin wanci and rattan box maker, 40-year-old Made Delue.

Panca datu: Kepeng coins that symbolize the panca datu, or the five precious metals of Hinduism.His shop front is laden with decorated resin ceremonial paraphernalia, much of it destined to be sold across Bali.

Resting on a sheet of corrugated iron are freshly painted wanci drying in the sun. At first glance, these look like they have been carved from wood, so fine is the mold that formed them.

'€œFirst, we make the master from wood and from that we take a mould to create the resin dulang,'€ Delue says. '€œThis is painted with red color and gold leaf. It takes about one day to complete a bowl that would sell for around $30. A carved wooden dulang can cost ten times that.'€

Delue, who adds he always uses resin dulang to bear his offerings to the gods, says that resin helps him to make inexpensive dulang for most everyone.

A group of women from Denpasar have made the mountain journey to pray at Gunung Kawi with a stop off to shop at Delue'€™s kiosk.

'€œThere is so much to choose from. I can'€™t decide,'€ one woman says.

Nearby also is the home of 38-year-old salang and lamak maker Nyoman Samu. Here, bundles of kepeng coins, colored threads and strips of yellow satin are the backbone of temple decorations. Chinese kapeng coins are used as salang and tied into human form or strung as gowns for carved figureheads, while the lamak are to be draped from household altars.

'€œKepeng coins are made from the five holy metals called panca datu, but these are inexpensive and just stamped to become decoration for the temple. The decoration has no real religious significance. It'€™s just to beautify the temples and complete the tools needed for the ceremony,'€ says Samu, another Sebatu resident, who like more than a dozen other families in this peaceful village makes her living pleasing the gods.

For sale: Women from Denpasar stop to bargain over quality ceremonial paraphernalia in Sebatu, home to many makers of religious decorations.

Masterpieces: The superb bowls carved by Tama are presented by his wife Renis at their Sebatu home.

'€” Photos By J.B.Djwan