Download Plant offerings

Puja is a Hindu and Buddhist ceremony of offerings and worship in homage to
a god. During the ceremony, the officiant offers food, flowers and symbolic
objects to the representative of the god. He tries to provoke the arrival of a god
inside its depiction as an image or statue. The invocation by the pujari (the
officiant) begins with ringing a small bell to call the divine. It is followed by
offering fresh flowers, food and incense accompanied by music and repetitive
recitation of mantras (sacred words).
The lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera, Nelumbonaceae) lends its symbolic purity
and perfection to Buddhism and Taoism. It’s an aquatic plant which represents
the birth of the Buddha. With its roots thrust into the mud and its flowers open
to the sky, on a stalk emerging from the water and the mire, it is an allegory of
the life of the Buddha. During his life on earth the Buddha rose above the
beliefs of the animists and Hindus to achieve supreme knowledge. He is often
depicted seated or even standing on a lotus flower which, in Buddhism, recalls
the three stages of existence: the past, present and future. The lotus bud is thus
one of the most common plant offerings in Buddhist temples.
The pujari anoints the object of worship, a statue or a lingam (a stone carved in the
shape of a phallus), with oil of camphor or sandal paste then covers it with garlands of
flowers. Puja is celebrated by Brahmins in the temple and by the head of the family in
the home. For Hindus it is a central act of daily life. In Buddhism, puja is an expression
of gratitude to the Buddha or to a god, who personifies compassion, wisdom, etc.
The lotus is one of the attributes of He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals of
Taoism, who can also take a female form. It is very easy to bend a lotus stalk
but very difficult to break it because of the many fibres which run through it
and which keep it upright. This morphological characteristic also symbolises
relations between couples, or the links which unite families.
Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera, Nelumbonaceae), jasmine buds (Jasminum sp.,
Oleaceae) and marigolds (Tagetes sp., Asteraceae) are popular floral offerings.
Plaited palms and banana leaves often serve as containers for them.
The majority of Balinese follow a local version of Hinduism called
Agama Hindu Dharma in contrast to most Indonesians who are
Muslim. Balinese Hinduism is a mixture of local beliefs, and
Buddhism and Shivaism of Indian origin. Indian philosophy provides
the theological framework while indigenous beliefs underlie the rites
and offerings.
The cult of natural objects is universal. Each element of nature is the
expression of one or several spirits who have their shrines and are
honoured. Followers thus keep contact with the gods and are reunited
with their ancestors through offerings, music and dance during temple
festivals.
There has been a link between plants and spirituality throughout history
and in all civilisations. Plants act as messengers, symbols, channels for
good or evil, they make manifest our relation to the spiritual and to the
divine. They are at the origin of beliefs, they feature in prayers and worship
and both poly- and monotheist pagan ceremonies. Their medicinal or
deadly powers reinforce the symbolic beliefs which underlie our use of
them. These powers and the technical and aesthetic complexity of plants,
coupled with their longevity, resistance and adaptation, are often difficult to
explain scientifically simply by evolution. This may be why they offer
unparalleled spiritual enlightenment. Their roles in the landscape and the
perfect functional beauty of wild nature have often reinforced and
transcended the sense of a founding divine presence behind the creative
forces of nature.
Ritual and daily offerings, called canang sari, in the temple or at home,
are composed of two small baskets made of banana (Musa sp.,
Musaceae) or palm leaves (coconut palm, Cocos nucifera; borasse,
Borassus flabellifer; Arecaceae):
- the first, which contains lime, areca nut (Areca catechu,
Arecaceae) and betel leaves (Piper betle, Piperaceae) is called the
porosan and symbolises the gods of the Hindu trinity or Trimurti
(Brahma, creation; Vishnu, preservation and Shiva, destruction);
- the second, the vrassari, is full of flowers (marigolds, jasmine,
various petals including blue hortensia (Hydrangea macrophylla,
Hydrangeaceae)) and rice.
We have set out to tell you about the place of plants in our world in relation
to the divine, sacred and spiritual in whatever form or of whatever
importance. We do this with respect even if certain beliefs and rites offend
our social, scientific and ethnobotanical sensitivities. Our account is not
exhaustive and undoubtedly contains assumptions and choices based on
our own encounters and voyages.
The line between science and parascience fluctuates through the history
and geography of our civilisations and societies. This is clear with regard to
the spiritual component of our lives. Fear of life, or of death, introduces
distortions, obsessions and neuroses which often obscure a scientific
explanation of ritual and its primarily utilitarian function.
The offerings, a daily activity of the Balinese, demonstrate the
people’s gratitude for the daily blessings bestowed by the gods
on the living.
More important offerings, the banten tegeh, are made for an
odalan, an anniversary ceremony for a temple. They are
paraded in the streets by women carrying towers of fruit, eggs
and cakes on their heads. After being blessed by the gods, the
offerings are taken back home and eaten by the family, the gods
having taken only the invisible and spiritual essence. During
the ritual prayer, the officiants give some grains of rice, bija, to
the faithful who stick them onto their foreheads. Bija symbolises
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Balinese
and in all Hinduism.
civilisations. Plants act as messengers, symbols, channels for
good or evil, they make manifest our relation to the spiritual and to the
divine. They are at the origin of beliefs, they feature in prayers and worship
and both poly- and monotheist pagan ceremonies. Their medicinal or
deadly powers reinforce the symbolic beliefs which underlie our use of
them. These powers and the technical and aesthetic complexity of plants,
coupled with their longevity, resistance and adaptation, are often difficult to
explain scientifically simply by evolution. This may be why they offer
unparalleled spiritual enlightenment. Their roles in the landscape and the
perfect functional beauty of wild nature have often reinforced and
transcended the sense of a founding divine presence behind the creative
forces of nature.
Marigolds (Tagetes sp. , Asteraceae), jasmine (bud of Jasminum
grandiflorum, Oleaceae), frangipani (Plumeria sp.,
Apocynaceae), etc. are used in large quantities during prayer.
They are specially cultivated and sold in markets near temples
in bulk or already prepared. After prayer, the Balinese divide a
flower in two and slip one half into each ear. For couples, they
signify protection of a wife by her husband, and the wife’s
faithfulness. For unmarried people, they represent solidarity
guaranteed by the gods. The offerings are usually accompanied
by a stick of incense because, according to Balinese belief,
smoke allows the offerings to rise to the sky and reach their
destination.
We have set out to tell you about the place of plants in our world in relation
to the divine, sacred and spiritual in whatever form or of whatever
importance. We do this with respect even if certain beliefs and rites offend
our social, scientific and ethnobotanical sensitivities. Our account is not
exhaustive and undoubtedly contains assumptions and choices based on
our own encounters and voyages.
The line between science and parascience fluctuates through the history
and geography of our civilisations and societies. This is clear with regard to
the spiritual component of our lives. Fear of life, or of death, introduces
distortions, obsessions and neuroses which often obscure a scientific
explanation of ritual and its primarily utilitarian function.