Bali – Country and People
Bali has a Hindu caste system that is very similar to the Indian one. The highest caste are the Bramahnen, the priests. Below that are the nobles. Today, these are the surviving members of Bali’s former royal families. Their names are Ksatriyas. The next most respected caste are the Vesiya, the warrior caste.
The lowest caste is the Sudra, to which about 95% of the Balinese population belongs. The members of the higher castes have special titles such as Gusti (descendant of the warrior caste), Ida Ayu or Ida Bagus (woman or man from a Bramahn family) or Anak Agung (member of a noble family), etc.
Balinese carving, like painting, was originally of a purely traditional character, and was used to decorate temples and palaces, instruments and doorways, as well as to make wonderful masks for dramatic performances.
Mass production has an inevitable impact on quality in some cases. However, the increasing demand has also led to the creation of a whole series of new objects invented by talented artists.
