Baru di Bali

It surely looks staggering, but the Balinese women’s temple dress is certainly not intended as a kick-ass fashion statement. The dress, which is called kebaya, is compulsory attire and worn as a symbolic gesture with a function to honor the Moon Goddess Ratih.

As nearly with everything in Bali, dress also has a divine origin. According to the Balinese Hindu manuscripts, humans were created without clothes. Human bareness, however, attracted Kala, the son of Shiva, the destroyer, to eat them. It was then, that Goddess Ratih was sent to Earth to teach humans how to weave cloths from vegetable materials to cover their bodies. The Balinese kebaya is one of the manifestations of the story.

The Balinese kebaya is richly embroidered with the island’s signature lace and shaped nicely to accentuate the feminine curves of the wearer. It is also commonly semi-transparent or even totally transparent with a different cloth to cover the torso area. After hundreds of years of regional acculturation, the garments used for kebaya have become expressions of artistry and tailoring traditions.