I’m going to a Balinese ceremony, what do I have to wear?
This really depends on what kind of ceremony you’re going to. These days Balinese ceremonial dress varies according to the type of ceremony it is. There are four main ones – temple ceremonies (odalan), cremations (ngaben/pelebon), weddings (pawiwahan) and tooth filings (metatah/mepandes/mesangih). The costume is essentially the same but differs in terms of colour and formality, however this may depend on the person.
For a man this will be a head-cloth (udeng), a shirt with a collar or a safari jacket (kuaca), an inner sarong (kamben), an outer sarong (saput), a sash (selempot) and a pair of sandals (sandal).
The women normally wears a hair-extension (sanggul), a lace top (kebaya), underclothing or a corset (kutang), a sarong (kamben), a sash (selempot), and a pair of sandals. The hair extension is optional here.
First the temple ceremony – these days, white is the norm and your safest bet for most parts of the clothing, especially for the man’s head-cloth. Over the years, a yellow outer sarong has become sort of standard for men. The sarong may be any colour you wish. The same goes for the women. Best not to wear black.
For cremations, black or other dark colours are the norm for most parts of the attire. However, this depends on who is getting cremated – higher caste cremations (pelebon) may require one to wear white.
At tooth filings and weddings you don’t have to worry too much about colour. If so inclined, you can express yourself with different types of material (songket) and accessories, such as handbags and flashy jewelry.
These days, ceremonial dress in Bali is very much affected by local and international trends but basically as an outsider it’s probably wiser to dress up rather than dress down.
