When I first came to live in Bali about 6 years ago, and I was still recovering from witnessing my first mass cremation, people of the village where I More

When I first came to live in Bali about 6 years ago, and I was still recovering from witnessing my first mass cremation, people of the village where I lived took me to a Purnama (Full Moon) Ceremony in their family temple. Like any other "stupid tourist" I was dressed up and looked a bit lost between the people who knew the ongoings so well. There, under the light of the full moon, I was totally undone by the chanting and praying. I think I fell in love with every Balinese girl I saw that evening. The movie was shot on october 14th 2008 in Pura Segara Penimbangan and shows the crowds attending a Full Moon ceremony, in and around the temple. The particular full moon ceremony on this date is called Purnama Kapat, and is celebrated only once a year, but (smaller) Purnama ceremonies are held every full moon in family temples. This North Bali temple is just a kilometer from where I live. The praying has to be done in groups, since not all people from the villages around fit into the temple at once. Most praying groups start entering the temple at around sunset, and this goes on until around 12 o'clock midnight, but praying is actually going on for 3 days. Even now at 11 o'clock in the morning, next day after shooting the movie, I can hear the chanting from the temple. I find the atmosphere overwhelming, and its only disturbed now and then by people trying to speak English to me (or gossiping in Balinese about my past in North Bali), but I must admit walking around with a camera and pushing it in peoples faces, how small it may be, doesn't really help to blend in.... People who experienced this kind of ceremony before will notice that the actual praying is missing. Afterall I became Hindu before marrying my Dewi, and I couldn't get it over my heart not to pray with my "neighbors", shooting the praying would have made me feel too awkward, at least this night. But, this ceremony is repeated every year, so maybe I will spend some of the evening as a total outsider one day, to get it all, and with a tripod this time. Panoramas shot by me from some time ago around Nyepi (Hindu New Year), near the same temple: bali3d.com/nyepi-before.php The temple on Wiki Mapia: wikimapia.org/1832246/Pura-Penimbangan I think this movie will be highly appreciated by Balinese living overseas ;) since it is not one of the "commercial" things you see often portrayed, this is the real, local, thing. Shot with handheld Sanyo Xacti HD1000, mostly with 0.45 "digital vision" lens attached, a lens with horrible (edge) sharpness, especially when zoomed in. Simple edit with Sony Vegas, saved as 1280x720 wmv with total bitrate of 2388kbs. Upload time of 165mb to Vimeo about 4 hrs with Telkom Speedy, without retries because of lost connections this time....
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