All throughout Indonesia, there is a tradition of palm-leaf
weaving called making ‘ketupat’. In Bali, the
little, hand-woven objects are called ‘tipat’.
Tipat have a special significance in Hindu rituals and are
considered an important part of offerings. They come in all
shapes and sizes, and many are named due to their form –
for example, a ‘tipat gong’ has a wee bulge protruding
from the surface making it look like a gong.
In a socio-cultural context, tipat filled with rice served
as ‘snacks for the road’ called ‘tipat bekel’.
Before the era of modern transportation, Balinese would either
ride on horse and cart or walk over very long distances. For
the journey, they would always bring a few tipat to snack
on. These days, this no longer applies, but the tradition
of tipat making is kept alive by the stream of never-ending
ceremonies that the Balinese involve themselves in every day.
Weaving tipat is a real art-form and actually few modern Balinese
master it. People really have to sit down and learn from family
or friends before they can make them. Children are also taught
how to make tipat at school and can even go to special courses
in tipat making. The Balinese view the ability to make their
own offerings, including tipat, as an important part of worship
and offering thanks to God.
There are more than 40 different types of tipat. All of them
look pretty damned complicated to me, but apparently there
are some that even complete novices can learn fairly quickly,
like the ‘tipat taluh’ or ‘egg tipat’.
This only has five steps and the result is a little bag that
you can put an egg in, as part of offerings for many common
ceremonies. One of the more complex and fascinating tipat
artistically is called ‘tipat lawe’, which takes
the form of a headless soldier who has been defeated in battle.
