Celebrating Religion, Tradition, and Sustainability on a Bali School Trip
Bali, an enchanting island paradise, is not only a popular tourist destination but also an ideal choice for educational school trips. With its rich cultural heritage and breathtaking landscapes, Bali offers a unique educational experience for students.
One of the highlights of a school trip to Bali is the opportunity to immerse in the local religion and traditions.
Balinese Hinduism, with its vibrant ceremonies and rituals, provides a fascinating insight into spirituality and cultural practices. Students can witness traditional dance performances, visit ancient temples, and even participate in hands-on workshops to learn about Balinese customs firsthand.
Why settle for ordinary when you can embark on an extraordinary journey to Bali? It's time to inspire young minds, foster cultural understanding, embrace sustainability, and create lifelong memories.
With that being said, let us dive into the cultural and historical background of this wonderful island in the Indonesian archipelago!
Celebrating Religion with Balinese Offerings
One of the awe-inspiring activities your students get to do on this school trip to Bali is learning about Balinese offerings at a Bali Purma Workshop. Balinese culture is strongly infused with Hinduism and is often referred to as the Island of the Gods.
One type of Balinese offering is called Canang Sari. Derived from Balinese words, ‘canang’ means small palm-leaf basket tray, and ‘sari’ means essence. This daily offering is a symbol of gratefulness to the Hindu God, Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa.
Canang Sari offerings are usually filled with colorful flowers that each have a special meaning and designated direction. White flowers are placed pointing east and are a symbol of Iswara, one of the primary forms of God. Red flowers, placed toward the south, are a symbol of Brahma, regarded as one of the three major gods. Yellow flowers, pointing west, are a symbol of Mahadeva, another one of the main deities in Hinduism. Blue and green flowers, pointing north, are symbols of Vishnu, who is one of the three gods in the Hindu Trinity of divinity.
Canang Sari offerings are left out for one night before being replaced the next day. Some other types of offerings include Banten Tegeh, Lamar, Sampian, Daksina, and Madya or Utama. Traditionally, women are in charge of creating offerings, and an offering cannot be presented to the Gods more than once per day.
Honoring Traditions with Traditional Indonesian Dance
Another aspect of Balinese culture students will learn at the Bali Purma Workshop is traditional Indonesian Dance.
In 2015, Balinese dances were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The three genres of traditional Balinese dance are sacred, semi-sacred, and dances meant for entertainment.
Traditional Balinese dancers wear brightly-colored clothing and ornately detailed jewelry pieces. Many of their dances are inspired by nature and are heavy in symbolism, spiritualism, and religious values.
Dances are accompanied by Balinese gamelan, aka Indonesian orchestra. Gamelan consists of several types of gongs and tuned metal instruments that resemble kettles and xylophones.
Part of Balinese dance culture is dance dramas. Barong, a creature in Balinese mythology, is often featured in dance dramas. Barong is the symbol of health and good fortune, juxtaposing the mythological witch, Rangda. Rangda is also known as Calonarang. Dance dramas involve the kris, an heirloom sword.
Some other types of dances include Joged dance, Jegog dance, Kacak dance, Legong dance, and the Ramayana Ballet.
Visions for Sustainability at the ZeroWaste Center
The ZeroWaste Center’s commitment to sustainability makes it an excellent destination for schools that prioritize environmental education. Students can engage in eco-friendly activities such as beach clean-ups or visit sustainable farming projects to understand the importance of preserving nature and promoting sustainable practices.
Unfortunately, Indonesia is the second biggest polluter in the world, creating 130,000 tons of solid and liquid waste each day. Half of this waste reaches the landfill. The organization focuses on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4) Quality Education, 12) Responsible Consumption and Production, 14) Life Below Water, and 15) Life on Land.
The mission of the ZeroWaste Center is to share ecological knowledge and waste management training for local Balinese governments, businesses, communities, and people. In addition to educating students aged 9 to 15 in local schools, the ZeroWaste Center has also led monthly beach cleanups and a zero-waste soap program.
Through this sustainability activity, students will gain firsthand insight into the state of our planet and why we urgently need to act. After sorting through the collected waste, the ZeroWaste Center aims to send as little as possible to the landfill.
In an effort to reduce the waste of hotel and villa soaps in Bali, the ZeroWaste Soap program collects these soaps to disinfect and reprocess them into new soaps. To date, they have distributed more than 60,000 zero-waste soaps. This is one of the activities your students will be doing during your school trip to Bali.
Program Details
Check out our detailed itinerary here:
https://www.beyondclassrooms.org/school-trip-to-bali
Start Planning a School Trip to Bali with Beyond Classrooms Today!
At Beyond Classrooms, we believe that amazing things happen outside of the classroom. Founded by an international team that emphasizes experiential education, we are on a mission to transform educational travel.
All of our programs have been curated around Kohl’s theory of experiential education, problem-based learning, and game-based learning theories. We want to give your students the best learning experience they can get while having fun.
We design every itinerary and program with your learning goals in mind. In such an enchanting place as Bali, there are numerous chances for students to step out of their comfort zones and try new things. If this sounds like an experience you would like to give your students, contact us today so we can start planning!
Sources
https://www.britannica.com/place/Bali-island-and-province-Indonesia
https://bali.com/bali/travel-guide/culture/balinese-offerings/
https://www.britannica.com/art/gamelan
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Barong-Balinese-mythology
https://www.balispirit.com/community/blog/traditional-balinese-dance
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/three-genres-of-traditional-dance-in-bali-00617