Saraswati Day of Knowledge and Wisdom, Ubud, Bali

On Oct 4, it was the day of Saraswati, celebration of the Hindu goddess of education and wisdom.  The Balinese people bring offerings to their holy books in their house, while students celebrate in school, and office workers in their office, as well as celebrating at their outdoor temples. The philosophy behind the day of  Saraswati is that the most important thing for human life is knowledge. www.balispirit.com/events Twenty five years ago, I first visited Bali during the same week of the Saraswati celebration and it seems now, that I have come full circle. The ambience 25 years ago was very quiet and simple, the rice paddies stretched out forever,  with mostly basic cold water bungalows,  hand carved wood and silver treasures,  minus the added high end clothing shops and rich tourists lingering around. It is hard for me to accept the changes, but it seems to me that there are many more pure souls here than there are at home in the San Francisco Bay area.  Bali is definitely a one of a kind place in the world. After breakfast, I decided to get dressed and walk to the temple for the Saraswati ceremony. When I tried on my golden colored,  lace cabaya traditional Bali blouse from 25 years ago, I was annoyed that it was too tight!   I was trying to figure out if I had become more busty or if the brownies and black rice pudding were catching up with me?   Regardless, I gave up wearing it and quickly improvised with a white blouse,  wrapped myself tight with a sarong and added a waist scarf.  After walking 15 minutes in the intense heat shaded by my broken umbrella, I walked the path down hill to a beautiful temple with stacked high hand made offerings everywhere.  I didn't mind that there were several students that wanted to hang out and practice their English. They used their cell phones to snap photos of us together. The Balinese were slowly arriving with baskets of offering on their heads and began to kneel down in prayer.  The priest dressed in white rang his bell loudly in an old familiar twang and his assistants poured holy water into cupped hands for sipping and then there was the flicking of holy water onto their heads.   There was still an orchestra of roosters crowing and combined with  the smell of incense.   For me, it was surreal to be experiencing this again, almost like it was my first day in Bali so many years ago. Afterwards, I wished I had worn shorts underneath, so that I could peel off the hot and sticky, restricting sarong and be free of it.   So far, everyday that I've been here, it has felt like being in a sauna with  the sweat rolling off my face and down the front of my chest. When I finally arrived at my homestay, the tiny swimming pool was waiting for me, and I happily eased myself into the cool, refreshing water.