Offerings, called banten in the Balinese language, are the tangible means by which Balinese Hindus communicate with spirits. Prayers, mantras, are the intangible means. What are these spirits?  

 To answer this question, you must understand that Balinese Hinduism is a mixture of Hinduism as it is practiced in India and animism. Animism is the belief that all objects in the universe possess spirits and that one can communicate with these spirits by suitable means and influence their behavior. By the same token spirits can influence the behavior of other objects in the universe, including, but not limited to, human beings.  

Two Classes of Spirits:  

 There are, broadly speaking, two classes of spirits, higher and lower. The higher ones, as a group, are called Dewa and Dewi or Betara and Betari; the members of the pair are male and female. The group of lower spirits goes by various names in different parts of Bali. In many areas they are referred to as butakala.  

 Higher spirits should not necessarily be thought of as good and lower spirits as bad. That is confusing to a Westerner who lives in an either/or type of world. Balinese people live in a both/and type of world. Spirits of any kind can be benevolent or malevolent, help or hinder, bless or curse, cause good or evil, depending upon how they are treated. Everything in the universe is composed of a duality of potentials. Sometimes one predominates, sometimes another. This is very much the same as the Yin - Yang concept of the Chinese.  

 The purpose of most offerings is to emphasize the good and diminish the bad. One can never rid the universe or oneself of evil. One can subdue it but never exorcise it. Evil cannot exist without good; good and evil are inseparable parts of the whole.  

 Offerings to the higher spirits are always put in high places, the higher the better. Offerings to butakala are generally put on the ground, for that is where they live.  

Butakala:  

 Offerings to butakala consist of the things that they are known to like and require. Usually these offerings are made regularly, regardless of other circumstances. Some are made daily, some at other intervals, such as regularly occurring auspicious or inauspicious days, some at full and new moon. They are placed where butakala are known to abound: at a crossroads, in front of the gate, on the well, on the stove, in unusually large or special places like big rocks, trees, and fields. These offerings are usually accompanied by pouring a little rice wine (brem) and distilled brem (arak) on the ground next to the offering. A smoking stick of incense is usually placed on the offerings in order to carry the essence of the offering to the proper place.  
 

The most common offering to butakala are called segehan. They consist of a small triangular container made of coconut leaf inside of which is placed a bit of rice, small bits of onion and ginger, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes a set of five segehan is made, each containing rice of a different color: white, red, yellow, and black. A mixture of the four colors is placed in the center. Coloring materials are commercial food dyes that can be bought in any market. The segehan with red rice must be placed on the south, yellow on the west, black to the north, and white to the east, because this is the color symbolism of the four directions, representing the gods of the four directions, from south clockwise: Brahma, Mahadewa, Wisnu, and Iswara. Siwa, represented by the mixture of colors, is in the center.

 When an area has been severely ritually polluted by some means, say an epidemic, or a natural disaster, a special ceremony, caru, directed toward the pacification of butakala must be performed. A caru always requires the sacrifice of some animal, ranging from a single chicken of a particular color in the smallest caru to water buffalo, goats, even dogs, in the larger caru. Butakala are like animals and require blood. In fact, a blood offering is required at the beginning of every major temple ceremony. In most cases this takes the form of a cockfight, in which blood is shed. This ensures that the butakala are properly attended to and will not bother the ceremonies involving the higher deities.  

 Most caru are prepared well in advance because so many offerings must be made. The result is that the meat is partially decayed, and the offerings have a foul smell. Animal-like butakala are not bothered by this smell as are their human hosts.  

Higher Spirits:  

 By contrast, and unlike offerings to butakala, offerings to the higher deities, although they all contain some sort of food, place considerable emphasis upon delicate beauty, color, fragrance, and visual impact. The purpose of making offerings to butakala is to feed them. The purpose of making offerings to the higher gods is symbolically to return to them the favors that they have granted to humans. What the gods have provided for human life, welfare, and happiness, should be returned to them with thanks.  

 The contents of offerings of this type are mentioned in a famous passage in the epic Hindu poem "Mahabharata". In a section of this enormous work, called the "Bhagavad Gita", god reveals to the hero of the story that an offerings should contain: a fruit, a flower, a leaf, water, and should be made with love. This is the clue to the contents of such offerings. All contain flowers, fruit, leaves, and are offered with holy water and with love.  

 Most of this class of offerings contain some sort of food in addition to fruit: rice cakes, nuts, a bit of fermented rice in a banana leaf, a sliver of sugar cane, a slice of banana, colored grated coconut, and cooked rice in one form or another.  

 After an offering is presented to the gods, and after they have absorbed the essence of the offering, it may be taken home and eaten by the family that offered it. This is often quite a treat for the family, because no expense is spared in purchasing cakes and fruits - items that would not ordinarily be bought for everyday eating.  

Betel Chew  

In addition, almost all offerings contain the ingredients of the betel chew. Areca nut (usually called betel nut by foreigners), when chewed with lime and betel leaf (the leaf of a kind of pepper vine), and gambir, a reddish material obtained from a woody shrub, is a mild stimulant and, in times past, was a common practice, especially amongst older people. This habit is not practiced much any more by younger Balinese. Be that as it may, there is a strong religious symbolism involved here. The nut itself is reddish, and is symbolic of Brahma. The white lime symbolizes the god of the East, Iswara. The green betel leaf is the color of Wisnu in the north. A bit of each of these three ingredients are present in one form or another in virtually every Balinese offering.

 Sampian may be large and elaborate, often obscuring the other contents of the offering. Or they may be relatively inconspicuous. But, they are almost always present.  

Canang:  

 The most common type of offering to higher deities is the canang. There are several kinds, shapes, and sizes. Most consist of a little square or round tray made of coconut leaf. Inside is a slice of banana and a sliver of sugar cane, and perhaps some peanuts and a little rice. There is also a little packet containing the betel chew ingredients. On top of this is placed the sampian. It may be relatively elaborate, with curlicues and filigrees, or it may be relatively plain. On top of the sampian are flowers. Crowning the flowers is a dab of shredded pandanus leaf, and a bit of wood powder on which is place a dash of fragrant oil.  

An average family might require a dozen or more canang every day to place in the various shrines around the house compound: in the family temple, in the kitchen, on the well, in the front gate, perhaps on the motor bike or car, on the stove, and other important places. As many as fifty might be required on specially important days. Every Balinese woman knows how to make them. Or, they can be purchased for a small amount in any market if the family is too busy.  

Presenting Offerings:  

 When these offerings are presented to the gods, the person who is making the offering sprinkles it with holy water from the family temple and then wafts the essence of the offering toward the gods with the palm of the right hand, usually grasping the right elbow with the left hand.  Offerings that are made for people have their essences wafted to the person in question.  

 Offerings that are taken to temples on the anniversary date of the temple are often quite high. Commonly they are 50 cm. tall towers of cakes and fruits, and perhaps a grilled chicken, all skewered with bamboo sticks into a length of banana plant trunk that is invisible inside the cylinder of foods. The tower is topped by an elaborate sampian, small amounts of nuts  
and meats, and a canang on top. In some villages these high offerings may be a meter or more tall. Women often have to carry them for a kilometer or more on their heads to the temple. They are offered in the temple by the priest in charged, sprinkled with holy water, and carried back home again, where the contents are eaten.  

Coconut Leaves:  
 

Coconut leaves are the most important materials for making the containers and sampian of offerings. There are two kinds of such leaves. Young, immature leaves newly sprouted from the crown of the coconut palm are a pale tan color, almost white. These are called busung, and are the preferred material for making the structures in which the offerings themselves are placed. Mature coconut leaves, called slepan (the first syllable is pronounced like the English word "slay"} are often used as well. These can be bought in bundles in any Balinese market.

 Almost any Balinese housewife knows how to make perhaps a dozen of the more important kinds of offerings and does so regularly. In fact about 20% of the waking hours of an average Balinese Hindu lady are spent in such activity. If there is an upcoming important ceremony, the work of making offerings goes on for days and may require the efforts of many people. There is no prohibition for men to make offerings. Some do. But, mostly, this is a job for ladies.  

Offerings Specialists:  

 Required offerings for some ceremonies are so complex, or are so little known that they must be made by outsiders. These may be village offerings specialists who make offerings for a living. Or the family may go to the home of a high caste priest, Pedanda, to purchase the special offerings. There is often considerable expense involved.  

 Some offerings consist mostly of fried cookies made of rice dough. These may be colored or plain, depending upon the type of offering. The cookies often depict various animals, plants, people, in addition to gods, mythical creatures, and even planets and stars. These may be relatively small, but the largest ceremonies require cookie offerings several meters tall.  

Why Are Offerings Made?:  

 What do Balinese Hindus think when they offer these offerings? That depends upon the person involved. More educated people with a philosophical bent make offerings out of pure love of god, without any expectation of reward. As mentioned, offerings are a way of returning to the gods that which the gods have given, with thanks and appreciation.  

 The average person with little or no education may make offerings for more personal reasons. He may regard offerings as a kind of insurance against harm or disaster. He may make them purely out of habit. He may make them out of fear of what would happen if he didn't make them. He may make them with a specific request in mind; for example the recovery of a sick person or promotion in a job. He may make them to prevent the spirits of various beings from bothering him in relatively minor ways. He may expect to be rewarded by the gods with general happiness and good fortune, without any specific objective in mind.  

Are Offerings Art?:  

 Much has been written about the great artistry that offerings display. This point of view should be considered in light of the fact that each area, sometimes each village, has very strong traditions about the appearances of common offerings. Deviating from the pattern is unwise. Every little girl leans from her mother how to make offerings in a certain way, and continues this tradition throughout her life. Is this artistry? It is hardly creative to make the same thing over and over again for years on end. Beautiful, yes. But is it art? That depends upon one's own definitions and values. These questions will not be answered here.  

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