Bali Culture and History

Culture Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.

The first Hindus arrived in Bali as early as 100 BC, but the unique culture which is so apparent to any current day visitor to Bali hails largely from neighbouring Java, with some influence from Bali's distant animist past. The Javanese Majapahit Empire's rule over Bali became complete in the 14th century when Gajah Mada, Prime Minister of the Javanese king, defeated the Balinese king at Bedulu.

The rule of the Majapahit Empire resulted in the initial influx of Javanese culture, most of all in architecture, dance, painting, sculpture and the wayang puppet theatre. All of this is still very apparent today. The very few Balinese who did not adopt this Javanese Hindu culture are known today as the Bali Aga ("original Balinese") and still live in the isolated villages of Tenganan near Candidasa and Trunyan on the remote eastern shore of Lake Batur at Kintamani.

With the rise of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago, the Majapahit Empire in Java fell and Bali became independent near the turn of the 16th century. The Javanese aristocracy found refuge in Bali, bringing an even stronger influx of Hindu arts, literature and religion.

Divided among a number of ruling rajas, occasionally battling off invaders from now Islamic Java to the west and making forays to conquer Lombok to the east, the north of the island was finally captured by the Dutch colonialists in a series of brutal wars from 1846 to 1849. Southern Bali was not conquered until 1906, and eastern Bali did not surrender until 1908. In both 1906 and 1908, many Balinese chose death over disgrace and fought en-masse until the bitter end, often walking straight into Dutch cannons and gunfire. This manner of suicidal fighting to the death is known as puputan. Victory was bittersweet, as the images of the puputan highly tarnished the Dutch in the international community. Perhaps to make up for this, the Dutch did not make the Balinese enter into a forced cultivation system, as had happened in Java, and instead tried to promote Balinese culture through their policy of Baliseering or the "Balinisation of Bali".

Bali Nightlife

Bali has long been a center for clubbing and going out at night. Nearly half a century ago, the island was a popular stop for hippies and surfers, and its relaxed and tolerant culture has allowed a thriving party scene to grow over the decades. Its relative proximity to Australia, Japan, Singapore and the continous stream of visitors from those countries turned Bali into a world-class destination for nightlife.

Popular Bars in Bali

The Sky Dome Super Club is the main clubbing space among the different venues within the 61 Legian Sky Garden Entertainment Complex on the Legian main street. The whole site is a nightlife destination with multiple clubs inside. ( Open: Daily from 21:00 until early morning )

Mirror Bali Lounge and Club welcomes night owls to its hip lounge and party venue on Seminyak’s main Petitenget route, which comes with a difference. The venue’s interiors and overall design is akin to a Gothic cathedral ( Open: Wed-Sat 23:00-04:00 )

Bounty Discotheque is one of Bali's legendary hotspots, famous for its wet n’ wild parties and a regular destination for schoolies from Down Under. It is a one-stop entertainment complex combining a large discotheque and dance floor ( Open: 20:00 - 04:00 )

Jenja features an ultra-chic Middle-Eastern restaurant on its top level, while a spiraling stairs transports you down to its nightclub where a bar serves a great selection of cocktails and booze adjacent a dance floor, DJ booth and lounges. ( Open: Wed-Sun 22:00 – 02:00 )

OPIVM (pronounced Opium) Bali is a two-storey nightclub located in Seminyak, where you can party away with exclusive VIP bottles and shisha services courtesy of personal table butlers, available in selected areas of the club. ( Open: 22:00 - 04:00 )