8/25 -- Ikat, Purification, Relaxation

Our primary objective today was to participate in a Hindu Purification Ceremony. On the way, we stopped at an ikat factory, and on the way back, stopped for lunch and visited a percussion instrument workers factory.

Ikat is a weaving method that uses strings to tie together sections of the warp and/or weft that will not be dyed the main color. It is similar to what we saw in Guatemala, except here, they hand painted the sections that weren't dyed. I found a couple things I liked, but prices were out of sight -- $140/meter for my favorite.

There are statues like this everywhere.

One of the hand looms for ikat weaving. This one has a plain
base thread and a patterned cross thread.

A more complex loom with pattern sticks on the right side. The
base threads  here are patterned too.

We arrived at Puri Tirta Sudamala around 10 and were pleased to see that it was not crowded.  However, there were several young Indonesians also participating who watched us cheerfully and occasionally offered suggestions.Purification here is a very wet process, and we had prepared for the ceremony by wearing our swimsuits under our clothes. Only 7 of the 16 of us were willing to try it.

At the temple, we replaced shorts with sarongs and set out for our wet adventure. We had also brought dry clothes with us. We handed one camera off to Pam and Marty, and Marty did most of the work, admirably.

These tube spew out water at an amazing velocity and our task
was to stand under each one. Wailika told us that some folks
who feel they need extra purifying stand under them for 10 to
15 minutes each.

Jim and I ready to start, standing in front of
the main event.

In the first stage, we walked into the cold water and went through
a set of prayers, sometimes holding flowers above our heads.

Next we got to dunk three times in a prone position. The youngsters
here steered me to the correct spot, which our group had drifted away
from. Fortunately, the water looked pretty clear.

After surviving the dunking and on the way to the 'shower'

This is where we really got wet -- 12 spouts to stand under. Jim
(white shirt) is at the first spout and I am at the third..

Me getting doused while Jim looks on. Did I mention that the
water is cold???

After our various dousings, we each had holy water sprinkled
on us and given to us to drink. It is my turn here. When it was
Jim's turn, the young Indonesians corrected his hand position.
I think they enjoyed seeing us participate in the ceremony.

Following the wet section of the event, we got to dry off and change clothes before donning another sarong and going through a dry version of our first set of prayers while seated in an inner section of the temple. Becky was singled out  for her fine arm, hand, and leg positions, probably a result of yoga practice.

There will be a huge celebration in October, and local people
are already busy getting the temple ready. There were extra
platforms everywhere and tons of decorations.

Closer look at some of the decorations

Entrance to the inner temple section where we
completed the ceremony.

Finally it was time for lunch and to head back to the hotel. Along the way, we stopped at a percussion instrument factory. Unfortunately, the owner was busy with a client, but we got to look around for a while. Some of these instruments are the same ones that were used by the musicians with the dance class we saw several days ago.

Our restaurant was part of this eco-resort set in the middle
of rice paddies.

I have no idea what this flower is, but it was
 the most amazing shade of aqua.

Worker on the left crafting a kind of a gong that sits in a frame
 with several others.

This is a stack of the gongs like the one the
worker in the photo above was crafting.

Xylophone tones are impacted by the size of the hollow
bamboo pieces below each key.

Close up of an elaborate statue corner

Caged bird we both found interesting.

Back at the hotel, we had time to catch up on email and have a leisurely dinner.