The Travelling Fairy DancerMore on Monkeys...
November 19th 2008 05:33
The woman screamed as four adult sized monkeys came from no-where and relieved her of a bag of bananas in mere seconds. Perhaps stupidly, she'd held on to the bag for a moment, only to have sharp monkey digits grip her legs, hanging on for dear life until they scored their bounty.
The monkeys within the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal, Ubud, Bali, are commonly called long-tailed macaques. They are found throughout Southeast Asia and live easily among humans, but are dependent on the conservation of Bali's forests.
Within Balinese Hinduism, monkeys are seen as both positive and negative forces and are, as such, both revered and hated. Revered as protectors of temples, warding off evil spirits and hated for their rice field raiding and clever stealing skills (never walk in a monkey forest with an open bag, your wallet will be gone before you've even spied a monkey).
Three temples can be seen within the Monkey Forest; Pura Dalem (death temple), Padangtelgal's Bathing Temple and Pura Prajapati (cremation temple). They remind visitors of the Balinese Hindu philosophy, believing as they do that peace and liberty are only obtainable when the three harmonious relationships, known as the Tri-Hata Karana Doctrine, are observed; the first of which is 'Gods blessed life and created nature', therefore human beings have an obligation to preserve nature.
The Sacred Monkey Forest is a walk back in time through ancient trees and mystical temples, complete with cheeky, humanised monkeys who find it thrilling to snatch your water bottle, sit on the ground, unscrew the lid and throw it back like a beer.
Once you get over the fright, you'll find it thrilling also.
The monkeys within the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal, Ubud, Bali, are commonly called long-tailed macaques. They are found throughout Southeast Asia and live easily among humans, but are dependent on the conservation of Bali's forests.
Within Balinese Hinduism, monkeys are seen as both positive and negative forces and are, as such, both revered and hated. Revered as protectors of temples, warding off evil spirits and hated for their rice field raiding and clever stealing skills (never walk in a monkey forest with an open bag, your wallet will be gone before you've even spied a monkey).
Three temples can be seen within the Monkey Forest; Pura Dalem (death temple), Padangtelgal's Bathing Temple and Pura Prajapati (cremation temple). They remind visitors of the Balinese Hindu philosophy, believing as they do that peace and liberty are only obtainable when the three harmonious relationships, known as the Tri-Hata Karana Doctrine, are observed; the first of which is 'Gods blessed life and created nature', therefore human beings have an obligation to preserve nature.
The Sacred Monkey Forest is a walk back in time through ancient trees and mystical temples, complete with cheeky, humanised monkeys who find it thrilling to snatch your water bottle, sit on the ground, unscrew the lid and throw it back like a beer.
Once you get over the fright, you'll find it thrilling also.
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