Four Photographers Document Cockfights

Here's a feature which groups individual photo essays of cockfighting by four photographers. I thought of grouping these essays, and also mention my own. Two of the cockfights occur in the Philippines, one in Haiti and the fourth occurs in Bali.

Photo © Julie Batula-All Rights Reserved

The first photo essay is Julie Batula's One Way Out; a photo essay of black & white photographs of cockfighting or sabong as it's called in the Philippines, where it's one of the oldest and most popular sports.

As Julie says: "Roosters continue fighting because they cannot escape, regardless of how exhausted or injured they become. It is a routine where they are forced to fight or die, and where death is the only way out."

Julie Batula is a Manila-based artist and documentary photographer, who is influenced by the works of Sally Mann and Nan Goldin.

Photo © Mitchell Kanashkevich-All Rights Reserved

The second photo essay (it's more of a multi-photo blog post) is by one of my favorite travel photographers: Mitchell Kanashkevich. He tells us he was riding a motorcycle to the city of Dumaguette in the Philippines and came by an area where cockfights were from morning till midnight everyday for a few days.

Mitchell Kanashkevich is a travel/documentary photographer, and is represented by Getty Images. He's been featured on this blog a number of times.

Photo © Swoan Parker-All Rights Reserved

The third photo essay is by Swoan Parker who features a 16 color photographs in a photo essay titled "Place Your Bets" of cockfights in Haiti.

Swoan Parker is a freelance photojournalist based in New York City available for global assignment. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, TIME, and National Geographic Traveler among others.



The final photo essay is mine, and is titled Tajen. It was photographed on the island of Bali last August.

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My Book: Bali Island of Gods: Now Available

I'm excited to announce that my new photo book Bali: Island of Gods is now available from Blurb. There are two main versions of the book (82 pages of black & white photographs) on Blurb's bookstore. A large (13x11 inches) landscape hardcover version and a standard (10x8 inches) landscape version.

All the details are available on a page of my website Island of Gods. If you choose to buy, the links will take you to my bookstore on Blurb, which has previews of the book.

I know...the timing of the publication is great! Just in time for the holidays.

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My Book: Bali Island of Gods Update 2

I've received the full version of my book Bali: Island of Gods from Blurb, and I'm happy with it. The variations in tone have been evened out, and the photographs are much better looking than in the sample I got last week. Phew!

I will have two versions of the book (82 pages of black & white photographs) on Blurb's bookstore. A large (13x11 inches) landscape hardcover version that'll be more expensive aimed at those who like me a lot, and a standard (10x8 inches) landscape hardcover version aimed at those who like me a little less. Those who are indifferent don't have to buy either...but wishing me luck with it would be nice.

Both versions will be available in a few days....and will be announced here.

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My Bali Book

I've decided to self-publish a book of my photographs of Bali. I've hesitated for a long time, since I have no patience to fiddle endlessly with layouts, fonts and the myriad of other variables necessary to produce a book, but I recently discovered that Blurb has introduced a new interface called Bookify. This is essentially a tool for people like me who don't have the mindset to spend hours on a project of that nature.

Lo and behold, I received my mock-up book a few days ago. The book is large landscape (13x11 inches) format, with an image wrap hardcover and the photographs are black & white. The mock-up revealed some slight variations in tone, a few photographs were reproduced "soft" and others were "muddy" requiring some more adjustment in Levels.

But I am pleased by what I saw, and I'll work on refining the current photographs, add some meaningful text, and add a few dozen more photographs. These will probably be from my 2005, 2007 and 2010 trips to Bali.

Stay tuned.

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Alia Refaat: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Alia Refaat-All Rights Reserved

Here are work samples from Alia Refaat, the final participant in the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ . It is Alia's second travel photography expedition, and she plans a series of exhibitions in Cairo of her photographs.

Alia is a commercial photographer from Cairo, Egypt. Alia studied Mass Communications, and trained at Spéos Paris in commercial, portrait and studio photography.

The above photograph is of Balinese devotees returning from the ocean having purified their temple's deities. The all day ceremony was performed near the famous temple of Goah Lawah.

Photo © Alia Refaat-All Rights Reserved

The above intriguing photograph is of Balinese playing Kocokan. This is a sort of roulette in which the players put some money on a vinyl mat decorated with six different pictures of cartoon version of Hindu gods, demons or animals. Surprisingly, this gambling is allowed during a temple odalan.

Photo © Alia Refaat-All Rights Reserved

Cremations are one of the most sacred events in Balinese culture. In this photography, Alia was quick to notice the rather macabre juxtaposing of the body's exhumation and the t-shirt worn by one of the cremation's attendees.

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My Work: The Bali Trilogy

I'm glad to present Bali: The Trilogy; a three-part audio-slideshow (based on a chaptered SoundSlides platform), which consists of black & white documentaries of Balinese ceremonies.

The Melasti ceremony is an all important Balinese tradition of purifying temple deities in the waters of the ocean, the Ngaben is the Balinese tradition of cremating the dead, while the third is Tajen, the ancient tradition of cockfighting, technically illegal but still practiced on the island (and elsewhere in Indonesia).

This above link will not work on iPads (by the way, about 6-7% of my daily readers view this blog on their iPads, and I think this percentage is growing every day), however the following links will allow iPad owners to watch the individual audio-slideshows on their devices:

Bali: Melasti Purification Ceremony
Bali: Ngaben Cremation Ceremony
Bali: Tajen Cockfighting Event

A word about the choice of black & white;  I'm not sure if I'm entering a sort of black & white phase in my photography work, and this is its manifestation...or whether I've been influenced by the likes of John Stanmeyer and others...or whether it's a contrarian reaction to the surfeit of color I've witnessed when attending these ceremonies last month...or whether it's because the Balinese believe these ceremonies inherently involve spirits and dark forces...I don't know. It just felt better.

Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy these audio-slideshows.

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My Work: Balinese Dancers

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

As some participants in my photo~expeditions seek to return with a diverse portfolio, I try to organize alternative styles of photography events during the trip...and although the primary focus is always on merging travel photography with documentary photography, I provide such opportunities to those who join them...depending on the destination.

One of the pre-arranged photo shoots during my recent Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ was held at the studio of a dance master specializing in the traditional dances of the island. I asked for three Legong dancing students, and one Baris dancer to be made up, costumed and willing to pose for us. Nothing photo-journalistic was intended from it, except perhaps during the make-up preparations, but the objective was fundamentally similar to a fashion photo-shoot.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Notwithstanding, I couldn't resist to make some non-posed photographs such as the one of the Baris dancer with the young daughter of the make-up artist. I always prefer shooting in a landscape format (to get more elements in the frame...and tell more of a story), but I also had to resort to a vertical format to shoot the Baris and Legong dancers in a traditional pose. Both of these images have their uses, and I'm not saying one is better than the other...but the landscape format lends itself better to my kind of shooting style.

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Ralph Childs: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved
Ralph Childs is a five time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the seventh to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

The above photograph, which I view as one of the best ones in his Bali portfolio, is of a devotee in a trance during a melasti ceremony at Masceti beach. These trances are not play-acting by any means, and are genuine manifestation of religious fervor which may reach a peak during such important celebrations and rituals.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved
The above photograph was made during a traditional procession on the same Masceti beach on the Balinese eastern coast during one of the melasti ceremonies we photographed. Melasti is the purification of the Pratima deity and other symbols at a beach, and is a fundamental ritual of a temple's anniversary.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved
This is one of the candid photographs that Ralph seeks whenever he's traveling. He pursues the theme of "father & son", and this one of the young boy and his father (under the spring's spout) was made at Pura Tirta Empul, where hundreds of devotees come daily to bathe in the temple's sacred springs.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved
The above photograph is of Kecak dancers in an unusual pose, which I believe is towards the end of the performance. The Kecak dance is a comparatively modern Balinese dance, and is also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant. It is performed by a circle of many performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms.

Chicago-based Ralph Childs maintains the blog RNC Photography where he posted more of his Kecak photographs. He also photographs local assignments during week-ends, and works for one of the largest American aerospace and defense technology company.

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Lens: John Stanmeyer's Island of Spirits

Photo © John Stanmeyer-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times' Lens features John Stanmeyer's Island of Spirits, whose black & white photographs were made using a Holga.

Also included is an interview by the NYT's James Estrin with John, who's one of the founding members of the photo cooperative VII, and whose work appears regularly in the National Geographic and Time. This coincides with an exhibit that opened on Thursday at the VII Gallery, 28 Jay Street, Brooklyn, which I mentioned a few days ago on my blog.

I loved these wonderful photographs made using the lowest technology possible, especially as they are a reminder that it's the photographer, not the camera, that makes them.

Having just returned from a photo-expedition to Bali a few weeks ago, I also marvel at the degree of influence John (and Gary Knight) has had on my own photography. I attended a week-long workshop with both of them a few years ago in Bali, and I can see their "thumbprints" on the images I made during these past 15 days...especially on two black & white projects I am working on at the moment....cockfighting and cremations.

When these are ready, I will feature them on this blog, and you, my readers, can judge for yourselves.

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Bali: Odalan at Pura Desa Sapat

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's the first gallery of my own work whilst I was leading the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™ last month.

It's a linear photo gallery of about 20 large color photographs made during an important anniversary of a Balinese Hindu temple, and it's titled Odalan: Pura Desa Sapat. It's more photo journalistic in style than travel, and there are graphic photographs of animals being sacrificed, which may be disturbing to some.

This was one of the two most intense photo-shoots during the whole photo~expedition...not only because of the time spent photographing, but also because of the unending kaleidoscope of movements, rituals, rites and activities.

Every temple in Bali has a scheduled festival, an odalan, to celebrate the anniversary of temple dedication. The timing of the anniversaries are either based on the lunar calendar or on a 210-day ceremonial cycle. Depending on the importance of the anniversary and on the wealth of its community, animals are occasionally sacrificed.

These anniversary events are important for the communal harmony of the Balinese, where villages will join other villages to pray at their odalan, adding their blessings for the success of the occasion.

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Penni Webb: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Penni Webb-All Rights Reserved
Penni Webb is a second time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the sixth to submit samples of her work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

Penni is a professional photographer as well as an Interior Designer and Organizer in Marin, California. She has an MA from the SFAI in Printmaking, learned Photography at California College of the Arts and worked with several Master Photographers such as Phil Borges.

Her first photograph is of Rejang dancers during a pre-cremation ceremony at a private house. The girl in the middle was a natural...and loved to pose for cameras. Rejang dancers are usually young females, dressed in bright yellow and white silk and headdresses made from fresh young coconut leaves decorated with flowers. The Rejang dancers represent the female angels who accompany deities.

Photo © Penni Webb-All Rights Reserved
The above photograph is one that was made by most of the group's members, and is of an elderly Balinese matriarch returning to her traditional home after having emptied a basket of morning offerings, known in Bali as canang.

Photo © Penni Webb-All Rights Reserved
The third photograph is of a Balinese woman snapping a picture with her cellphone of three Rejang dancers during a during a melasti ceremony at Masceti beach.

Before starting her business in 1999, she managed and directed contemporary art and antique galleries and was a photographer for a large event & film company in Oakland. Her hand-painted photography work is represented by Smith Andersen North in San Anselmo where she had a solo show in 2008. She has exhibited her photographs and prints nationally since 1974.

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Chris Schaefer: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Chris Schaefer -All Rights Reserved
Chris Schaefer is a first time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the fifth to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

Chris is an attorney, and when asked to describe himself for this post, wrote that he "likes to travel to far away places with professional photographers and hopes for a quality photo now and then. He is educated in nothing related to photography, but enjoys snapping the shutter and seeing what happens."

Having seen the results of his "snapping" as he calls it, I think he did extremely well and surpassed his expectations of having a quality picture now and then.

The above photograph is that of a traditional procession on Masceti beach on the Balinese eastern coast during a melasti ceremony. Melasti is the purification of the Pratima deity and other symbols at a beach, and is a fundamental ritual during a temple's anniversary.

Photo © Chris Schaefer -All Rights Reserved
The second of Chris' photographs is of a Legong dancer at the Ubud Palace during a performance. The performance included various dances, such as the Gabor, Baris, Kraton ad the Taruna Jaya. The Legong dance is characterized by intricate finger movements, complicated footwork, and expressive gestures and facial expressions. This dancer in particular used her eyes to convey emotions extremely well.

Photo © Chris Schaefer -All Rights Reserved
The third of Chris' photographs was made at the holiest of Bali's religious sites: Pura Tirta Empul, whose sacred spring is said to have curative properties. The tradition has continued unchanged at the temple for a thousand years. This photograph shows how the Balinese place canang (offerings) at the spouts of the springs.

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Bo Jungner: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Bo Jungner -All Rights Reserved
Bo Jungner is a first time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the fourth to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

Bo holds a MSc in Business Administration and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics and works for a Swedish-based private equity company. He's also a photography enthusiast who joined my group whilst in Bali with his family.

When I first saw the above photograph of a Rejang dancer adjusting her headgear during a melasti ceremony, I told Bo that it was my favorite I had seen from his portfolio. I still think it is.

Photo © Bo Jungner -All Rights Reserved
The second photograph may repel some of the viewers, but washing skeletons is what happens during the exhumation which precedes a cremation in Bali. The whole event is a joyous one for the Balinese as the cremation of the body leads to the release of the soul, and brings final closure to the families. We were photographing in a small village in the Gianyar Regency, and spent some 6-7 hours shooting non-stop under a merciless sun. It was one of the most intense photo shoots during the expedition.

Photo © Bo Jungner -All Rights Reserved
This photograph is of a group of young Rejang dancers during a pre-cremation ceremony at a private house. We were welcomed, and feted like old friends by the family of the deceased, and welcomed by the whole neighborhood. The first dancer was really very comfortable with the cameras, and posed for us very professionally despite her young age.

Photo © Bo Jungner -All Rights Reserved
Here Bo photographed the preparation for a cockfight which was to take place on a beach during a temple odalan. Normally, cockfights in Bali are illegal unless these are connected to temple ceremonies.

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Sandy Chandler: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved
A third-time participant in my photo-expeditions (The Gnawa in Morocco, Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat, and Bali Island of Odalan), Sandra Chandler is a photographer and interior designer based in San Francisco. She tells us that color, smells and sounds drew her to world travel. Her city's Asian culture first enticed her to China in 1978 when the People’s Republic first opened. She then continued her exploration of Asia by traveling to Bhutan, India, Japan, Singapore, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, and on to South America and Europe.

The above photograph was made at one of the many odalan anniversary celebrations in Bali during our trip. The musicians play traditional instruments such as the gamelan, and are called upon to perform at many functions, including weddings and cremations.

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved
The above photograph was made during the Legong dance perfomance at the Ubud Place, and is of the Baris. The Baris is a traditional war dance of the island, in which a male dancer depicts the feelings of a young warrior prior to battle.

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved
This photograph was made at an odalan held in a forest setting, near the village of Birta. Here, female pemangku are surrounded by incense (known as dupa) smoke used to appease the spirits and accompany offerings at all temple ceremonies.

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved
The adorable grand-daughter of a wayang kulit (shadow puppet master) was a willing subject for Sandy's lens. We spent about 3 hours at the home of I Wayan Martha, the shadow puppeteer, in Sukawati where he and his assistants gave us a private performance of this traditional Javanese/Balinese tradition.

Sandy also published a book ‘Carnevale, Fantasy of Venice' of her beautiful photographs of Venice and its magical Carnevale.

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My Work: The Salt Maker of Kusamba

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
A few days before the start of the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ , I drove to the eastern shores of the island to photograph the traditional salt making in Kusamba.

I spent a couple of hours with Dewa Yoman Sanat; a traditional salt-maker (or more accurately, salt gatherer) in Kusamba. He guesses his age to be close to 70, and he works at gathering salt everyday under the scorching sun. On cloudy and rainy days, he remains home as a hot sun is needed to evaporate the seawater which leaves a thin film of salt, which is then gathered by Dewa.

He and his wife, Jero Sekar, who also helps him in this back-breaking work, have 7 grand children...none are understandably interested in continuing the salt making tradition. Dewa said that he gets about Rp 5000 (about 50 cents) for every 10 kilograms of salt.

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Rose Schierl: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Here's the work of Rose Schierl; the second participant of the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ to send images to post on this blog.

Rose has been photographing since 2005, and only gone digital two years ago. She hasn't gone through any formal photographic education per se, but attended various short workshops, and those set by Arizona Highways. Rose won an award at a juried show for one of her photographs in 2009. She's also an accomplished diver, and before the photo expedition was on a diving vacation for a couple of days in the north-west of the island.

So far, it appears the fire-walkers at the end of the Kecak dance performance we attended in Ubud was a favorite subject for the group members. Rose managed to capture one of them kicking a blast of glowing embers (above).

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
One of the shoots I organized during the photo-expedition was at the house of a wayang kulit (shadow puppet) master, where we were treated to a private performance The wayang kulit is an extremely important vehicle of culture, serving as carrier of myth, morality play, and form of religious experience rolled into one. Here, the master is moving one of his shadow puppets during the performance.

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Here's a Balinese villager who was attending a night odalan in Bitra village. The temple anniversary was one of the most interesting we've been to during the 2 weeks photo-expedition. Not only did it involve the requisite day-time religious prayers and offering in an exquisite forest setting, but it included performances of Barong and Arja dances.

Photo © Rose Schierl-All Rights Reserved
Rose captured a dancer during an evening Legong performance at Ubud's palace. The performance included various dances, such as the Gabor, Baris, Kraton and the Taruna Jaya.

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My Work: Bali Cockfights

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
We were fortunate to encounter a number of cockfights during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

I say fortunate because, while cockfights are gruesome and certainly bloody, they offer glimpses into a tradition practiced on the island (and elsewhere in the world) for ages. All animal rights activists and many other lay people consider it a horrible blood sport which ought to be banned. In Bali, cockfights are known as tajen, but have been forbidden since 1981 since it's considered gambling. Notwithstanding, it continues to be practiced as a ritual to expel evil spirits, and feverish gambling by bebebotoh (always men) is the norm when it occurs.

The area where the cockfight occurred was full of men, who were engaged in gesticulating and yelling their bets according to the color of the roosters. In the middle of the circle formed by the crowd, the bebebotoh were stroking their prized roosters, preparing them for the fights. Others were tying razor-sharp spurs to the birds' legs, while others were busy carving up carcasses of those that had been vanquished.

There seemed to be a sort of hierarchy. A older man, dressed in better quality clothes than the rest of the throng, was sitting very calmly in the midst of the frenetic betting activity, taking it all in. He clearly was a main player of some sort here. I couldn't tell whether he participated, or whether he was the "banker". He may have been a wealthy gambler who joined these cockfights to satisfy his passion.

My movements were restricted, as the men were in no mood to allow anyone to obstruct their view of the cockfights. However, I managed to photograph at will, and recorded some raw ambient sound, which includes the crowds yells and bids.

The roosters' demise is quick...the "combat" is short lived and takes about a minute or two for one of the roosters to fall. Thereupon, it's carried away and eviscerated to be consumed later.

As a side note: I often witness similar rituals; some secular and others religious, and I always try not to pass judgment on the practice. While I personally consider cockfighting to be cruel (as I do of bullfighting), I also respect the right of the Balinese (and others) to practice it, especially when it has a religious significance. Unfortunately in this case, it was all unapologetic gambling.

Having said that, I found the atmosphere electric and compelling, and I am at work on an audio-slideshow of the two cockfights I've witnessed in Bali this time. It will include the one I've described above, and another which was part of a melasti on a beach.

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Kim McClellan: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
Kim McClellan is a third-time repeat participant in my photo~expeditions, having joined Bhutan: Land of Druk Yul Photo~Expedition ™ in October 2009, and the The Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition ™ in January 2010 before returning with a trove of images from the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ last week.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
Kim is a professional photographer (as well as working for the SBA in DC), and graduated from the Washington School of Photography in January 2001. She's passionate about international travel photography, and her work was featured in juried exhibitions and shows in the Washington DC Metro Area. She's well-known for her work in fashion, glamor, and classical figures.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
During the Bali photo-expedition, Kim worked on transitioning from the more staged style of glamor photography to the more fluid style of travel-photojournalism, which is the core objective of my photo workshops. Her photographs here demonstrate her progress in that transitioning.

Photo © Kim McClellan -All Rights Reserved
The first photograph was made during a private ceremony preceding a cremation. Cremations in Bali are occasions for gaiety and not for mourning, since it represents the ceremonial burning of the dead to liberate their souls to be free for reincarnation into better beings.

The second was made at the holy temple of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, which is a major water temple on Bali, and one that protects Bali from evil spirits from the north west. and where constant ceremonies were being conducted when we were there.

The third is of a melasti on a beach on Bali's north east shores. Melasti is an important purification ceremony when temple devotees in Bali go to its beaches, carrying their temple effigies and where the cleansing rituals occur.

The fourth photograph was made during a Kecak & Kris Trance dance in Ubud, and shows one of the dancers in a trance walking barefoot on glowing embers.

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My Work: Balinese Elder With Dog

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
What people may or may not tell you is that some of the best photographs out of the many one makes during a photo trip are serendipitous, and the opportunities to make them occur when one least expects them.

Here's one of my favorites so far (and I've only looked at two of my image folders...a mere fraction of the over 10,000 photographs I've made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition) of an elderly Balinese woman returning to her traditional home after having emptied her basket of the morning offerings.

We were driving to one of the many temple ceremonies, and I suddenly saw the woman walking slowly towards her house. I immediately asked Komang to stop our van, and our second car also stopped. I reached for my cameras, and squeezed a few frames using the 70-200 lens, while the woman was quizzically looking at the two vehicles full of photographers, aiming their lenses at her. She never smiled...but just stood there, regally, probably muttering "Mad bule (foreigners in Bahasa)".

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Diego Vergés: Bali Wedding Ceremony

Photo © Diego Vergés-All Rights Reserved
I was glad that Diego Vergés has just sent me some of his work in Indonesia, which includes photographs from a typical Balinese wedding ceremony in his distinctive style. It's opportune as I just returned from Bali myself and also photographed a wedding.

According to Diego's diary, he was driving in Randang, not far from Ubud in the east of Bali, where he was invited to a wedding. The ceremony was to start at the groom's family house with a lunch offered to all guests. Subsequently, the guests went home, while the groom's friends and family started to slaughter pigs and ducks as offerings to the temple, and for the large dinner on the following day.

Many of the guests arrive early morning, with the religious rituals over by noon when food is offered to the guests. In the afternoon, the groom and his bride will visit her family's house when she bids them farewell, as she will live thereafter with her in-laws.

I experienced the same sequence in tradition when I attended a wedding in Ubud. In essence a wedding-crasher, I was nevertheless considered and treated as a valued guest, and offered food and water whenever I was seen with neither in my hand. Hindu priests (known as a pemangku) officiated the ceremony, which required the bride and groom to perform symbolic rites. It also required them to endure a couple of hours of make-up, and wear traditional wedding attire.

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