Monkey ceremony for Ubud monkey forest

Monkey Forest management at Padangtegal village, Ubud subdistrict, Gianyar district, Bali, is preparing a ceremony for the monkeys living in that tourism object.

"The management holds a ceremony once in every six months for 600 monkeys living in the 12 hectare forest," said the Monkey Forest Tourism Object Manager, I Wayan Selamet, Saturday.

He said the aim of the ritual is to honor all kinds of animals as an important part of the ecosystem.

Selamet said that the ritual will be held on Saturday at 3 pm.

The ritual will simply arrange the pond of the Monkey Forest Tourism Object by giving ritual offerings for the monkeys. It will be led by the traditional leader of Kahyangan Padangtegal Three Customary Villages, Ubud.

The 600 monkeys symbolically will be sprinkled with pure water.

Selamet said that the ritual is held before the forest became a tourism object.

"It has been a tradition and held by Hindus in Bali," he said.

The purpose of the ceremony is to send prayers to the animals to improve the quality of their life.

In fact, most of humans are eating animals, thus it makes animals elements inside human bodies affecting their nature and character.

Therefore, on that holiday of `Tumpek Kandang`, all humans should purify themselves to neutralize any negative forces of animals.