Goddess of Death and the Mistress of Demons. As
Devi Ganga and Devi Danu, she is the goddess of
both the lake Bator (the site of her chief temple)
and the second largest volcano, Gunung Bator. As
Sri, she is worshipped at the temples in the rice
paddies. As Ibu Petri, she is the Goddess of the
Earth. Her most wrathful form is that of Ranga,
goddess of the cemeteries.
Among the important temples on Bali is Gunug
Kawi, one of the island’s oldest, dating to the 11th
century. Carved out of local rock, it is located in
the Gianyar Regency. The most sacred site on the
island is the shrine Pura Besakih, located on the
slope of Mt. Agung.
Today, over 90 percent of Bali’s three million
inhabitants are Hindu, making the island the larg-
est community of Hindus outside India.
Further reading: Jane Belo, Bali: Temple Festival (New
York: American Ethnological Society, 1953); ———,
Traditional Balinese Culture (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1970); ———, Trance in Bali (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1960); James A.
Boon, The Anthropological Romance of Bali, 1597–1972:
Dynamic Perspectives in Marriage and Caste Politics
and Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1977); R. Friederich, The Civilization and Culture of
Bali (Kolkatta: Sushil Gupta, 1959); Clifford Geertz,
Person, Time, and Conduct in Bali. South East Asia
Studies (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
1966); Hildred Geertz and Clifford Geertz, Kinship
in Bali (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975);
Christiaan Hooykaas, Agama Tirtha, Five Studies
in Hindu-Balinese Religion (Amsterdam: Noord-Hol-
landsche Uitgaverij, 1964); ———, Cosmogony and
Creation in Balinese Tradition (The Hague: Martinus
Nijhoff, 1974); Leo Howe, Hinduism and Hierarchy in
Bali (Santa Fe, N. Mex.: School of American Research
Press, 2001); J. L. Swellengrebel, Bali: Further Stud-
ies in Life, Thought, and Ritual (The Hague: W. van
Hoeve, 1969); ———, Bali: Life, Thought, and Ritual
(The Hague: W. van Hoeve, 1960); Walter F. Vella, The
Indianized States of Southeast Asia (Honolulu: East-
West Center Press, 1968).
Bali, the asura
Bali is the asura (antigod) who plays the role of
villain in the story of VAMANA, the dwarf AVATA R
(incarnation) of Vishnu.
The story takes many different forms. In
the most common version the demon Bali suc-
ceeds, through religious austerities, in gaining
supreme power over the Three Worlds, Earth,
heaven, and the underworld. When he begins to
monopolize the offerings that previously went to
the gods, they go to Vishnu to ask for assistance.
He takes on the form of VAMANA and approaches
the arrogant demon with a plan to trick him. The
foolish demon king offers the dwarf a boon of ter-
ritory—as much as he can cover in three paces.
Thereupon the dwarf takes one step to possess
the Earth, another to possess the sky, and another
to possess heaven itself. In some versions Vamana
takes two paces to step over the whole universe
and a third step that ends up on Bali’s head. Thus
did Vamana return the worlds to the gods.Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); Clifford Hospital, The Righteous Demon: A
Study of Bali (Vancouver: University of British Colum-
bia Press, 1984).Barry Long Foundation See LONG, BARRY.
Basavanna (1106–1167 C.E.) saint who helped
found Virashaivism
Basavanna was a saint devoted to SHIVA and was
the chief founder of the reformist VIRASHAIVA or
lingayat community. He was a social reformer
who opposed temple ritual and the caste system in
favor of an internal religious orientation.
Born in the village of Mangavalli in the state of
Karnataka to parents who apparently died when
he was young, he was raised by his grandparents,
and later by foster parents. He became learned inK 68 Bali, the asura