Anthropologists have suggested that the Balinese are an amalgamation of a number of races; The Chinese from the North, the Indians and the Arabs from the west and other racial groups coming directly to Bali, or by way of Java, from the east.  They are blessed with golden-bronze skin, long, glossy black hair, charm and mystical smiles, happily living in a rich and dynamic culture. Although Bali has been influenced by numerous cultures throughout the ages, there are still pockets of villages where fraternization with outsiders is restricted.  This is a people and a society that is known as the Bali Aga (Old Bali) which allows us a glimpse into the traditional culture of a Bali centuries past.

Balinese society is very community oriented.  A person in Bali cannot exist in solitude.  Much of the rituals require massive effort which the village shoulders co-operatively.  Everyone has their role to play; from playing an instrument in the orchestra to dancing in ceremonies.  This too, can be observed in their young.  As the parents go to plant rice or tend to their daily duties, the children, all of whom are seen always on their best behavior, play with their age group but are constantly under careful watch of the older ones.  Fights seldom occur and loud screams or cries are even rarer, as if they have been taught to be at harmony with their surroundings.
The Balinese have an interesting built in population-control mechanism through their naming structure.  In Bali, the first child is called Wayan, the second child is Made, the third child is Nyoman and the fourth, the last, is Ketut.  If one family should have more than four, traditionally, it’s back to Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut.  The culture discourages a family having more than four children.

Some say that the Balinese people have reached the height of self-contentment.  It is not an exaggeration when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he would say, “Just like Bali without the worries of mundane life”.  The Balinese want to live in Bali and be re-incarnated in Bali.  This does not imply that the Balinese are resistant to change.  Instead, they adapt change into their own system of living.

Religion

Bali Hinduism is a faith that has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism.  It adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenes peoples which inhabited the island around the first millennium BC.  This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things.  Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power which reflects the power of the gods.  A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil.

Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual and is less preoccupied with scripture, law and belief than Islam in Indonesia.  In their arts, traditional paintings faithfully depicting religious and mythological symbolism meets with foreign influences that have given birth to contemporary works.  They are free in their creative thinking yet strongly and distinctively Balinese.  Wood and stone carvings, gold and silver crafts parallel the development of paintings, gracefully evolving with external forces to enhance their characters.  In their dance, music and theater is laden with religious connotations again performed mostly to appease and to please the gods and the goddesses. 


Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.