flower anyone?

[Bob A]

Not Balinese, but wondering a bit over the symbolism of three.

I get Lt ear, Rt ear, both ears. Would it occur to the Balinese that there is a fourth possibility, namely no flower? Three is a magic number to some; four also has its adherents. My supposition is that this is strictly a concern over the flower and its placement, but I thought I should ask, anyway.

Are you aware of any specific meaning regarding the number/placement of the flower(s)?

These questions pop into my mind, and you know, the only stupid questions are the ones not asked, I'm told, though I do try to push the envelope . . .

[gp]

a few Bali pics;

2 wooden statues from 1940- early 1950 and one stone statue from a temple

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Bob, of course, but we were talking about presence of flowers, not absence of flowers.

You're right about three being special.

In Bali everything comes in threes:-

Balinese people think of everything as having a three part construction:-

the sacred high part, the ordinary middle part, the unclean low part

things belong in either the outer world or the inner world, problems in either world can be reflected in the other world.

Anyway, everything, and I do mean everything, comes in threes:-

the cosmos, Bali itself is divided into three, temples, building forms, images, religious symbolism, offerings, language, human body, life, understanding, rituals --- absolutely everything, what I've listed above is just what comes to mind immediately.

When it gets to the number three you need to remember that in all dealings, all contacts, everything in Bali is in three parts.

You can start with the Trimurti:- Siwa, Brahma, Wisnu

and beginning there you can go to the Balinese Mandala.

Yes, number of flowers or anything else, placement of anything, colour of anything. All these things and a myriad of other things and relationships can be interpreted just as a language is interpreted.

All of Balinese life is concerned with maintaining the correct harmonious balance but to understand exactly what this is it is pretty much as I said before:- you need to be born Balinese.

[Anthony G.]

Dear all, thank you for sharing these valuable information. Something for me to write in my keris diary for this weekend. Cheers.

[mariusgmioc]

Wow...
Thank you for this thread and all the answers it stirred! 😊