Taking a walk in Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, you'd probably come face to face with a lion but fear not! - For a small sum of money, you could pose for a snapshot with it! I remember seeing a similar lion in Java when the country was celebrating its Independence Day and had thought that this was Indonesia's version of the Chinese lion dance. Balinese culture was said to be strongly influenced by Indian and Chinese and the lion, known as the Barong, could testify to that. The Barong is often featured in certain ceremonies at village temples together with a mythical character called Rangda, the witch representing evil,said to be closely associated with Durga, the Hindu mother warrior goddess, and Kali, the black mother goddess of destruction, transformation and protection in Hinduism. We did not see Rangda anywhere in the park and perhaps, that's a blessing. Rangda is depicted as a a nude old woman with a horrifying face. Her hair are long and unkempt and her breasts, pendulous. She has claws and fangs too and her goggle eyes and long, protruding tongue would probably cause us nightmares. Talk about sour grapes!
Traveling Tip: Be a sour grape, sometimes!
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