Wherever you go, you will see little baskets on the floor with incense sticks and little goodies such as sweets, fruits and sometimes even some money and a cigarette. In front of shops and homes, in the middle of cross roads and junctions, and on temple shrines outside and even inside offices, restaurants and basically wherever you go.
For one simple reason: It brings delight to the Gods.
“Whosoever offers to me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that offering of love, of the pure heart I accept (ix:26)”
This is one of the lines Khrisna told Arjuna, describing what God expects from an offering, and is quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita. This message is still well executed by all the Balinese throughout the island. Although, there are many varieties of simple offerings to extravagant ones that can be found today in Bali. Each of them must consist of all the components that have been foretold: Items used in the offering are natural materials that are used and found in everyday life, such as sewn palm leaves, colorful flowers, and sometimes little pieces of food or sweets.
Have you seen a small tray made of finely cut pandan leaves in the form of a square filled with colorful flowers, sometimes snacks, sweets, and burned incense? It’s a widely used offering found either perched on a small shrine or placed on the ground. If you see a canang sari as you’re walking, DO NOT step over or step on it as long as the incense stick is till burning..
Typically, Canang Sari will be left to stay for one night on the shrine or on the floor after praying, and then removed to be replaced with a new one the next day.
The colourful flowers are not randomly chosen; they have different philosophies and meanings, which are also placed in specific directions.
The most spectacular offering that you would find in Bali, where Balinese women carry a stack of food and fruits on their head while walking towards the temple. Mostly, Banten Tegeh are presented during a village temple celebration, named “Odalan”. The process is a bit more complicated, starting by creating a stable base made of wood, and a pike in the centre, where a banana stem act as a way to stick all the food using bamboo skewers. Last but not least, a canang sari will be placed on top of this mountain of beautifully arranged stack of fruits.
A type of placemat fashioned from palm leaves and bamboo sticks used as the base for offerings during Galungan day. It looks like a mat hanging on temporary shrines, decorated with colored, dried leaves.
This offering usually comes in the shape of a triangle and presented inside the canang sari. Young girls are taught to create this basic type of offering before moving on to creating other offerings with more complicated designs and materials.
Considered as one of the more important offerings for big religious ceremonies. All the materials include a small bag of rice, duck egg, coconuts, canang sari, and other sacred tools are put in a small basket, again made of sewn palm leaves.
A unique offering made from colourful cakes and rice dough shaped into shapes of animals, plants or even humans. This offering is not so commonly used for ceremonies, therefore it is only done by specially trained members of high caste women. The process can take time for as short as week or as long as even several weeks to prepare just the rice cake. The result can be pretty tall up to three or even five meters. The whole madya symbolizes the Balinese concept of universe, which consists of the underworld, the world and heaven.
