A Balinese ceremony for the new toll road

Foto: Bali Daily

On Wednesday morning a religious ceremony to consecrate the island’s first toll road was solemnly performed.

Hundreds of Balinese Hindu devotees from seven customary villages around the new toll road, which connects Benoa Harbor-Ngurah Rai International Airport-Nusa Dua, took part in the ceremony, locally known as tawur gentuh and pemelaspasan. The ceremony took place on the new road near the Ngurah Rai airport toll gate and was led by three Hindu high priests.

A Pakelem ritual was also held in the last part of the ceremony. Pakelem is a traditional Balinese Hindu ritual that involves sacrificing live animals by drowning them in the sea. Several animals were sacrificed in the ritual, including a buffalo, a cow, a goat, a swan, a duck and several chickens.

Animal sacrifice plays an important part in numerous Balinese Hindu rituals. Hindu followers believe that through such sacrifice they will be able to appease the gods and bhutas (nature’s powers), and simultaneously restore the balance between the physical realm of sekala and the spiritual realm of niskala. The ceremony is aimed at neutralizing any negative forces and spiritual imbalance created during the construction of the toll road. The ceremony also symbolizes that that the 12.7-kilometer toll road is ready for operation.

The toll road is part of an expensive infrastructure overhaul designed for completion ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Summit in early October. Around 21 heads of state are expected to attend the summit. The toll road is Bali’s latest attempt to ease congestion in the south of Bali.