I’ve heard that Balinese Hindus always sleep with their heads facing north, why is this?
Balinese have a different view of the world and the cosmos than other races do and this influences even the way they sleep. Hindus here believe that people should sleep according the magnetic alignment of the Earth, meaning that our heads should face north and our feet south. In a Balinese worldview it is not as simple as this however. For a Balinese, north is also called mountain-wards or kaja and local people align themselves with the highest mountain in Bali, sacred Mt. Agung (Agung meaning large) located in the Karangasem regency.
As you may have noticed, Mt. Agung is not always northwards for local people, especially those who live in Singaraja, meaning that in fact kaja is reversed in north Bali. It could be assumed then that traditionally Balinese had no word for north until they adopted the Indonesian word, utara.
For a Balinese, there are only two rational possibilities for sleeping positions: kaja or kangin (east). East is also a safe one because it is in the direction of the rising sun, a major source of energy for life. In fact, Balinese believe that if you choose to sleep in any other direction, i.e. seawards (kelod) or in the direction of the sun setting (kauh), you will be a bearer of ill fortune. If you face your head west you will have no love in your life and everyone will hate you; if you face it east, you’ll live a short life.
So, whatever you do don’t rearrange the room if you live with local people, you’ll either have no friends or only live till sunrise!
