New Work Explores Time In Balinese Culture

In his review of a new book exploring the notion of time as a link between the Balinese and their gods, Professor of Theater Ron Jenkins points out the “timelessness” of certain cultural concepts in Bali even as modernity threatens the island’s survival.

The book, Time, Rites and Festivals in Bali, focuses on the seminal story of Sinta and Watugunung. Each week of the calendar at the heart of Bali’s complex ritual life is named after a character from their saga.  The book’s bountiful illustrations make it special, Jenkins writes in The Jakarta Post.

“One could also spend hours puzzling over abundant charts and illustrations that visualize the logic behind Bali’s multiple overlapping calendars,” he writes.

Jenkins, whose interests include international traditions in comic performance, particularly in Balinese theater,  is on sabbatical in Indonesia.