Paputan.

This is coolbert:

Bali.

An idyllic paradise.

Now a popular tourist destination for westerners.

Was at one time a very exotic tourist destination, but with the advent of modern jet transport, it has become quite popular.

The image of the Balinese people is usually one of a peaceful, contented lot. Living lives of artistry and spirituality that is remarkable. A people that practice a religion that is a mix of Buddhism and Hinduism. This way of life presents a certain attraction to the western tourist, an attraction that demonstrates a marked contrast with the western way of life and it's constant search for greater materialism.

Tradition is very important to the Balinese. The manifestations of tradition also hold great appeal for the tourist. Traditions that include, dance, worship in different forms, feasts and what can only be described as lavish spectacle. These spectacles are a main reason for the tourists arriving in the first place.

There is one tradition of the Balinese, however, that I doubt would not hold much attraction for the tourist.

That is the traditional practice of paputan. Ritual mass suicide. It seems that when the Balinese are faced with a situation that is irredeemable and irrevocable, one option is for paputan.

And do not think that is some ancient tradition no longer practiced. The last incident of paputan occurred in 1906.

At that time, an invading Dutch military force sought to bring the King of Bali to heel. Rather than submit, the King and his family, his nobles, his retainers, and a large number of the King's followers decided to commit paputan. March into the guns of the Dutch and allow themselves to be massacred.

And this is what happened.

Dressing themselves in their finest archaic regalia, the men equipped with swords [keriss], and the women equipped with daggers, the King and his followers marched en masse upon the massed rifles of the Dutch, to be killed.

Four thousand Balinese committed paputan in this one incident. Four thousand!!!

"The symbolic character of the traditional city centre is reinforced even more by the monument which commemorates the puputan, the suicide of members of the royal family who refused to surrender to the Dutch in 1906. Men, white-clad women, and children were shot by the Dutch and when only wounded stabbed themselves and each other to death, because they preferred an honourable death to cowardly surrender."

What were the Balinese saying here?? They were saying, "we die, but we are not defeated." The Balinese choose the time and place and the circumstances of their own deaths.

And showed contempt for the Dutch in doing so. As an example of this contempt, the women threw their jewelry at the Dutch, attempting to goad the Dutch to fire on them, which the Dutch obligingly did so!!

[This very incident is reminiscent of the mass suicide of nine hundred Jewish zealots atop the fortress of Masada in 70 A.D. Rather than submit to Roman rule, the zealots also committed mass suicide. The chronicles of the time register the respect and admiration the Romans had when they surveyed the scene of the dead zealots, realizing that the zealots chose death over submission.]

Read about the Balinese sword [keriss] by clicking here. These swords are also said to possess magical powers. This is in keeping with the beliefs of societies all over the world that swords are imbued with magical powers. Excalibur, Weyland the Smith, the wizards of the Zulu. Swords and the smiths that forge them are said to have magical powers.

The keriss of the king of Bali was taken by the Dutch as a prize of war. This keriss now resides in the Indonesian National Museum in Jakarta.

coolbert.