Sarongs of Bali - part 1

When I found out we would be taking a trip to Southeast Asia the place I wanted to visit the most was Bali.  I have a good friend who has been there several times before and brought me a sarong a few years ago that I made up into a dress I love. Also, Bali is known for all it's art, music and dance.

I knew that sarongs were readily available, but what I didn't know is the Balinese wear them all the time and everyone, no matter what your background, is required to wear one when visiting a temple.

As silly as we look, this is what was required of us and anyone else to be allowed inside a temple in Bali.

Bali is one island in the country of Indonesia.  The Balinese people are Hindus while the rest of Indonesia is Muslim.  Religion is part of their daily life. Each home has a small temple for people to make offerings and pray, there are community temples and some old and famous temples.

This is Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of art. I bought this carving my last morning in Bali. I thought she would inspire me in my workroom.

I saw a book of beautiful photo from the 1930s sitting open in a woman's clothing shop and was surprised by all the topless ladies I saw in it.  I asked one of the sales ladies when the women of Bali started to cover up.  She told me it was in 1953.  And it wasn't until the 90s, when women began wearing bras .

You can see the way people dressed in this neat video of Bali in the 1940s.  It is several scenes of daily life. The music you hear is made by a Gamelon orchestra. I will talk about that in a future blog.

I believe a law was passed in the 50s and at first women simply wrapped a cloth around their chests but over time beautiful lace blouses became the traditional top, worn with a sash around the waist.

This photo is from a museum in Singapore showing the old style of lace top from Bali.

I found this image on line.  It shows the correct modern way for men and women to wear a formal sarong with all the require parts.


I was lucky and got to attend a non-tourist temple ceremony. Our guide invited us and everyone was dressed like this, including the kids.

We wore nicer tops and my husband wore one of those Udeng hats.


I'm sorry I can't find of photo of us from that day.

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This is a great photo taken recently showing a group of women preparing temple offering which usually consist of flowers, rice and palms, but can be anything. I found this on Wikimedia Commons.

Many of the holy statues are also dressed in a sarong. And BTW the large black and white gingham is considered to be a sacred fabric.

A standard sarong is about 2 1/2 yards long and 45" wide.  This video below show the correct way for a woman to tie one on.

But, I couldn't help but be amused by the throng of tourists from all around the world wearing badly tied sarongs in all the temples I visited. Wearing a sarong shows respect and I guess it's better than some of the stuff most tourists wear.