The cultural artifact I chose for this month was a video and article about a coming-of-age ceremony in Bali. Specifically, it is the tooth cutting ceremony called Upacara Potong Gigi. There is no specific age for this ceremony, though they must be teenaged. Even though the ceremony is called “teeth cutting,” there is no actual cutting, just filing of the teeth. This ceremony is used by Hindus in Bali, so there is a lot of religious meaning behind it. Its purpose is to cleanse the adolescent of any bad energy or traits that could manifest in them, which include: kama (lust), lobha (greed), krodha (anger), mada (intoxication and insanity), moha (arrogance), and matsarya (envy).
Something interesting I noticed was that the atmosphere of the ceremony reminded me of an Indonesian wedding. This makes sense in many ways, as weddings are also a symbol of growth and maturity. I have only attended one, though it was so extravagant and memorable. Specifically, the women’s makeup, hair, and outfits were reminiscent to the bride and other female attendees of that wedding. Other common features I can point out include the use of flower petals and water. For this ceremony, the water was used to drink and rinse their mouth, but in the wedding I remember the bride and groom dipping their feet in separate bowls of water. Perhaps both are symbols of cleaning.
In class, we went over the most common religions in Indonesia, and of course Hinduism was on the list. However, I did not realize how widespread it is in Bali (87%). Since Indonesia is home to the largest population of Muslims, I thought Islam would be the majority religion in many of the islands, especially a well-known one such as Bali, however, it is not the case. This year, I studied Hindu art in one of my classes, so I am now aware of many common motifs, symbols, and themes. Back when I visited Bali in 2016, I had almost no knowledge of Hindu art, so I could not recognize anything specifically. I do remember taking time to appreciate any new architecture or statues I came across, and I also remember thinking they are a bit different from general Indonesian culture, but I just thought it was expressions of Balinese culture (though now I am thinking they are most likely very Hindu-influenced). It is always interesting to study the effects of religion on culture and many aspects of society, because it can be a very strong influence.
In the United States, I do not believe we have any coming-of-age ceremonies. I think many thoughts concerning coming-of-age relate to reaching certain ages such as 16 (able to drive), 21 (able to consume alcohol), etc. So it is always interesting to hear about other culture’s view on maturity and adulthood. Additionally, I also study Japanese and there is a Japanese holiday that celebrates coming-of-age called Seijin no Hi (成人の日), which also contains a ceremony called seijin-shiki (成人式). These ceremonies are held in governmental or school buildings and usually speeches are given by officials/teachers. The age of maturity is 20, so those who have turned 20 are welcome to attend the ceremonies and wear traditional Japanese clothes.
Comments
Kianti, your post made me realize how little I know about Indonesia even though I grew up pretty close from it (Nepal). It is so refreshing to hear about Bali from a cultural perspective as opposed to fancy vacation pictures posted by influencers on Instagram. Don’t get me wrong- those are important too. However this post reminded me that Bali is not just a vacation spot, but a place with rich historical and cultural significance with people’s lives attached to it. The bad energy traits that you mentioned in the first paragraph are actually the words that exist in Nepali too. I guess that is because most Hindu cultures derive their words from Sanskrit. The Muslim majority in most places, as opposed to the Hindu majority in Bali is so fascinating. I wonder what kind of religious and social dynamics result from it. Again, thank you for sharing!
I think your topic is very interesting. However, I think that the United States does have coming of age ceremonies. You list at least two events, turning 16 and 21, that could be considered to be apart of that category. Furthermore, I would consider graduation, both for high school and university, as most definitely belonging to this category as well.
This is a really interesting aspect of Balinese culture! I liked reading about the similarities between Upacara Potong Gigi and Indonesian weddings. I can definitely see the religious aspect of wanting to cleanse an adolescent of any negative traits that may come with adolescence. I’m sure components of Hinduism are common not only in ceremonies and art, but even in language and how people communicate with one another.