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Czech tourists not let off lightly after playing with holy water at Balinese temple
The Hindu-majority people of Bali are known to be deeply attached to their religious rituals and culture
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span>The Hindu-majority people of Bali are known to be deeply attached to their religious rituals and culture. While they are welcoming of foreign tourists visiting the “Island of the Gods”, Balinese Hindus will not easily let off the hook those who disrespect their religious sites.
That is why many Balinese were angered when a video of two foreigners made the rounds in social media over the
weekend showing a man sprinkling a woman’s bottom with holy water flowing from a pelinggih (altar) in a sacred Hindu temple.
The man and woman in the footage were later identified as Czech nationals Zdenek Slouka and Sabina Dolezalova and they were at Pura Beji, also known as the “Holy Bathing Temple”, which is located within the Monkey Forest in Ubud.
In the footage, which was first uploaded by Dolezalova in an Instagram story on her account @sabina_dolezalova_ifbb, the two are seen standing near a pelinggih. As they giggled, Dolezalova suddenly lifted up her miniskirt, while Slouka scooped the flowing water and sprinkled it on her exposed buttocks.
The story immediately went viral and reposted by a number of accounts, including that of renowned Balinese designer Niluh Djelantik, who expressed her outrage over the foreigners’ conduct.
“As I said eight years ago in an interview, Bali will fall from grace if it cannot protect itself and be selective of tourists visiting the island,” she wrote in a post on her account @niluhdjelantik.
“[I was] regarded as anti-backpacker [because of the comment], but I have to say that this is not about money,” Niluh said. “We gladly welcome backpacker and luxury tourism as long as [the tourists] show respect and understand our customs and traditions.”
Niluh’s post was flooded by comments from Instagram users who also voiced a chorus of condemnation of Slouka and Dolezalova, with many criticizing their disrespectful attitude and some calling for authorities to hold them accountable for their actions.
Dolezalova’s Instagram story has since gone invisible, while hers and Slouka’s account have been set as private.
The two later provided an apology for their actions through a video, in which they apologized for “dishonoring” the Hindu’s holy temple and holy water, while claiming they did not know that the latter were sacred.
The footage was posted on the Instagram account of Arya Wedakarna, a member of the Regional Representatives Council from Bali, who had also criticized the two foreigners’ discourteous action through his posts.
“We had no idea that there is some holy water or there is a holy temple, so we really did not want to do anything bad. We are truly sorry,” Dolezalova says in the video. “Now we are just finding what we can do to fix it.”
Slouka and Dolezalova’s case had been settled, as the two had signed a “peace settlement” with I Made Gandra, the leader of the Pakraman Padatangtegal customary village, Ubud Police chief Comr. Nyoman Nuryana said on Monday.
In their joint statement dated Aug. 11, the parties agreed that the case had been closed following a dialogue to settle the issue between the foreigners and local religious figures.
“The figures of the village have decided to forgive them,” Nuryana said, adding that there would be no legal process against the two.
Slouka and Dolezalova, however, have to take part in a Guru Piduka cleansing ritual to ask the Gods for forgiveness, as required in the Hindu teachings and belief in Bali, Nuryana said.
The ceremony was set to be held on Thursday, he added.
The controversy involving the two foreigners is the latest in a series of incidents of boorish tourists desecrating holy sites of Bali and offending some Hindus.
In September last year, Tony Kristian Jarvi from Finland was under fire after a photo showing him sitting on a shrine at the Luhur Batukaru temple in Tabanan regency went viral in social media.
Jarvi subsequently deleted the photo on his Instagram account and apologized to the Balinese people. He later also took part in a cleansing ritual, as required in local tradition. (afr)
