Projects

While researching the Profiles of Healing book on the traditional healers of Bali, called Balians, we encountered ancient etchings on long palm leaves tied into bundles called Lontar.

After a ritual cleansing at a temple, a Lontar is sung to evoke its ancient wisdom. Each Lontar has a specific keeper responsible for singing it on appropriate holidays or when someone has need of its knowledge. In addition, this individual is responsible for copying the Lontar when it begins to deteriorate and for passing the responsibility on to a successor, usually within the family. Since not all of the information related to a Lontar is written down on the palm leaf, without the assistance of the keeper, nuances and secret information are lost.

During the Dutch occupation of Bali, many Lontar were removed to Dutch museums. Some were returned in a repatriation effort several years ago. Other Lontar have been lost due to a lack of interest by keepers' descendants.

The Universitas Udayana in Denpasar, Bali, has amassed an impressive collection of "lost" Lontar over the years. With help from Ringing Rocks Foundation, several of its departments have completed a project which preserves thirteen Lontar on a 3-CD set. Each Lontar has been digitally photographed and translated from the Kawi inscribed on the leaves into modern Balinese and English. Kawi is an ancient Javanese language derived from Sanskrit.

Go to Lontar Archive to view.

Bi-annual Lontar Competition
In order to encourage more of his community to participate in preserving this ancient tradition, I. Gusti Gede Raka Antara of Jimbaran, an elder who understands the Lontar and trains Balians in the singing (reading), use, and transcription of these sacred texts, has partnered with Ringing Rocks Foundation to conduct a bi-annual contest.

During the contest, which lasts three days, groups of villagers from age ranges of 6-12, 13-20, and 20-40, compete for the best reading and translation of a selected traditional text. The contest is a festival that honors the Balinese way of preserving sacred knowledge and presents a proliferation of offerings, feasts, and gamelan orchestral performances. Through this community event, Ringing Rocks helps foster a sacred Balinese tradition.