Beauty Of Bali - In Bali, becoming blacksmiths is not a matter of skill. Although you can study steps to make a steel implement, you can't be known as a blacksmith. The only method to be a blacksmiths will be born inside a Pande family.

The smiths in Bali are called, generally, pande. Although the Pande clan did not exist, even in the earliest days the pande has considerable political power, including the right to seat representatives on the governing bodies of the desa (village). To maintain their position of prestige, the smiths kept their techniques secret and saw it in that marriage would take place only within their own professional group. And today, this clan is still fiercely proud, the most conservative in its ranks refusing the religious authority of the Brahmana priest – some, claiming ancestry preceding Hinduism, even creating a sort of hybrid religion of their own.

The Pande clan inscribed its own history in a lontar, a formal religious document, called the Prasasti Sira Pande Empu. Many clan groups wrote lontars, during this time to codify, and amplify, their right to status greater than that of mere Sudra. These lontars, which are still read today, offers history that are vivid, exaggerated, and full of hubris. The Pande’s is no exception.

The Prasasti Sira Pande Empu outlines a mythology that seems to predate Hinduism. It describes that the creation of Brahma, but Brahma here appears less like that of Hindu triad, and more like the Vedic god of fire, Agni. Emphasizing fire, of course, make sense for the Pande, who have always considered fire as their special instrument, from which much of their power was derived. And yet the Pande adopted the color red, which is always associated with the Trimurti god of Brahma. The Pande temple at Pura Besakih is decorated red. Pande men often wear red articles of clothing, such as udeng (head band), and saput (waist cloth), when participating ceremonies.

A few of the Pande can stick to the regular ritual of Balinese Hinduism as determined generally Balinese scripture, acquiring their holy water from pedandas, praying at regular temples, and watching the programs which are then about everybody else in Indonesia. However the conservative Pande don't have the holy water from pedandas, maintaining that they're senior towards the Brahmanas, not the other way around. Furthermore, a number of them an extremely pronounced anti pedanda prejudice. It has triggered some problems. Probably the most conservative Pande areas get their own temples as well as their own pemangkus - lay Pande priest - who officiate at special Pande events and who make their very own holy water to be used only by Pande people.

Beauty Of BALI