The Natural Guide To Bali

Bali inherited many cultural features from Java, and in particular its syncreatic Buddhist Shivaist religion. Clasical literature forms and architectural concepts were derived from Majapahit, as well as caste system. Dance and theatre evolved from Javanese models and narrative, as well as painting and sculpture, strongly influenced by puppet-show theatre (wayang).

This supposedly turned the ancient, “barbarian” Bali into “the renascent Bali of aesthetic elegance and liturgical splendour”, as noted by Geertz in fact , some scholars, like Geertz, view the Majapahit invasion as a myth needed to justify the position of the Balinese upper castes, who regard themselves as descendents of the Majapahit and their refined civilisation.

Yet by the end of the 14th century, Bali was already recovering its independence. Weakened by internal feuds, Majapahit was losing its grip. On the northeast coast of Java, small Muslim trading communities were mutating into powerful states, including the sultanate of Demak, which eclipsed the floundering Majapahit.