Bali Local Language
On your visit to Bali then rent
a car for round trip, visit some interesting places, you may
pay attention to a new shrine, house or building inaugurated in
a Hindu ritual where a peace of white clothe with writing in Balinese
characters is suspended under the roof or on the shrine platform
inside. It is called ulap-ulap. At a glance, it looks like a combination
of ordinary writing and calligraphy.
Actually, such complex writing is Balinese character belonging
to the modre category. This character is exclusively used to write
mantra on the rerajahan (magical charm believed to protect against
evil spirits, bad intention from others or even drawing sympathy
or good fortune), ulantaga paper in ngaben cremation ceremony,
kudung (sacred facial cloth for effigies like randa, barong) and
others.
In essence the Balinese characters consist of three kinds,
namely:
- Hresue namely character that primarily used for common Balinese word.
- Swalalita namely those that especially used for words of foreign origin like Old Javanese (double consonants like /bh/ in the word “prabhu” meaning king) and Sanskrit (for name of Gods).
- Modre or aksara wayah namely those mentioned at previous part of this writing.
What Balinese language has in the division of character as
mentioned above similar to that of Japanese language, having the
Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji in term of its usage.
In day life of Balinese community, Balinese language and its
character remain to play an important role. Other than being used
as means of communication (as mother tongue, sometimes interchangeable
with Bahasa Indonesia), the language is also used in need of rituals,
chiefly mantra in vernacular (better knows as sesonteng) and in
the lontar manuscripts. Meanwhile, its character is mostly used
the in marking of oblation and rerajahan as mentioned above. Whoever
remains to read lontar manuscripts today? Definitely many, they
are probably holy priest, students, enthusiasts and even paleo-graphic
(the people who learn about ancient manuscripts).
To sum up, the Balinese language, lontar
manuscript and ritual are just like a trinity that comes together
to undertake one of the prominent regular Balinese activities.
To preserve the Balinese culture also means that preserves its
existence and develop its use in order it could last through the
generations and ages. It is not merely a matter of language, but
also of local tradition and religious life of the Balinese.
