By Ravinjay Kuckreja
This is a message from the International Communications Department of Sampradaya Kesadaran Krishna Indonesia or SAKKHI (ISKCON as registered in Indonesia, with GBC approval):
Presenting to your grace/holiness, the Island of the Gods; Bali. We are just one of the little tiny islands of the Indonesian archipelago with 17, 560 islands. Since more than 11,000 of them are inhabited, if you were to visit one island per day, you would go back home in thirty years, one month and seven days (or so…). With almost 248 million inhabitants, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country; whereas in Bali we have 4.2 million. At its longest point, Bali is 150 km long and 70 km at its widest. But what makes Bali stands out from the rest of this world largest Muslim country, is that it has its own Hinduism.
Long long ago, Indonesia was a part of Eastern India. It was the Malaya Hills. Local legends claim the Pandavas and other notable characters of Vedic literature, visited the islands. Agastya Rsi was said to bring Hinduism here, but Markendeya Rsi brought it to the island of Bali. Indonesia flourished with many Hindu kingdoms, with kings maddened with passion and priests of ancient wisdom. Art and culture is distinct and portrays Vedic symbols and creatures like the om, svastika, makara, garuda and many more. They worshipped the Tri Murti and Vaisnavism and Saivaism were rampant. But everything changed by the arrangement of Time, but now its all still alive in Bali Dwipa.
Bali is Sanskrit for ‘sacrifice’, the bhuta-yajna dedicated to the ghostly and non-living creatures, one of the five maha-yajnas. And all this knowledge is also known by the local Brahmanas who are aware of the yajnas, mantras, cosmology, astrology, avatars, varnas and many more. Including the Bhagavad-gita. And that’s when we come in….
Srila Prabhupada came to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, in 1973 and now we are recognised under the umbrella of the Hindu Parisad in Indonesia. It wasn’t as easy though. Our book got banned, devotees had to do their sadhana undercover and some were even thrown behind bars. By the mercy of the devotees and of Sri Sri Radha Govinda, a national reformation made the devotees more confident to unveil the vibrant world of the Sankirtan Movement. The movement continued to spread all around the country which now bears ours temples. On other islands of Indonesia such as Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Lombok and Irian Jaya, the movement is active with book distribution and harinams conducted every week. One of the most notable are the farms located on these various islands. Around three thousand devotees call Bali their ancestral home, while many others live on the other islands. Of course, Bali is now a tourist mecca. Sun all year round, beaches on every corner, local friendly people and cheap comforts. Perfect recipe. But we still have daily harinams, 5 temples, Food For Life, restaurants and many more activities. Don’t forget the World Holy Name Week, 24 Hour Kirtans and the Ratha-yatra!
And with open arms, we welcome you to our little mystical island.
Paradise. Paradis. ParaÃso. Paradys. Paradies. Paradijs. Paradicsom. Pай.
Bali….
Visit Krishna’s Bali
visit.iskconbali.com