Offerings

Besides the deliciously sweet air, the first thing I notice about Bali are all the shrines. Some are ornately carved stone with intricate faces as tall as houses, while some are as simple as a smooth rock pillar no bigger than a tree stump. But all are adorned with a sarong and sash. They are everywhere I look: the airport, street corners, in front of shops, at the beach, and of course, at the temples.

Then there are the offerings. Small, palm-sized containers with offerings for the Gods. They hold rice, flower petals, fruit, even wrapped mentos candy. They are presented with incense. And the air is filled with the scent of burning that perfumes the salty air.


We enter the ancient temples of Pura Puseh and Pura Dasar in the village of Batuan. The temple workers help us tie on our sarongs and sashes. We walk past the weathered stone, the moss, the lichen, the dust, the blackened carvings, the ghoulish faces, the gilded chairs, and the thatched roof pagodas. And there is a tangible peace here. As though the ancientness of the place, with over a thousand years of worshipers coming and going has now become part of the earth itself.

A temple worker, an old woman, whose gaunt face, tender smile, and calm way seems as much a part of these ancient shrines as the carvings. She beckons me to sit by her. She gives me a palm leaf offering to hold.

Since arriving in Bali, I have watched different people present these offerings at all times of the day. A waitress with her apron still on, stacks her offering on the sidewalk just outside the restaurant. A cab driver puts his offering on the hood of his car in the early morning hours. The man who rakes the sand at the beach, places his offering near the lapping waves.

And I wonder, what do I have to offer?

The answer comes simple.

Gratitude. And so there amongst the towering shrines, in the bright sun that has seen it all, I offer a silent thankful prayer. For all that I have seen, for all that I have felt, and for the joy of simply being.

The beauty of Bali surrounds me.