The Art of Bali Yagaya (Bali Rituals) 🙏

The Art of Bali Yagaya (Bali Rituals)🙏

Bali Yagaya is a profound healing ritual (Shanthikarma) that can be found across all three major dance traditions in Sri Lanka. Historical records suggest that during the Kotte kingdom, these rituals were predominantly performed by Brahmin scholars who had migrated from India. Deeply concerned by this foreign influence, the venerable Vidagama Thero took the initiative to establish a localized, indigenous system of Bali rituals that incorporated the chanting of the virtues of the Buddha (Budu Guna). Consequently, it is widely accepted that the contemporary local system of Bali rituals originated during the Kotte era. It is also believed that Vidagama Thero authored texts such as Rathnalankaraya, Yaga Sangrahaya, and Maha Bali Nidhanaya, which contain the chants associated with these rituals.

The role of a Bali ritual practitioner (Bali Edura) is far more demanding than that of practitioners in other traditional healing rituals. This is because a Bali master must master a vast array of artistic and technical disciplines. To successfully perform a Bali ritual, the practitioner must be highly skilled in:

• Vocal chanting and singing

• Traditional dancing

• Drumming and percussion

• Painting and drawing

• Sculpting (making the clay figures)

• Natural pigment coloring

• Astrology

• Intricate carving

Much like our other traditional healing rituals, the art of Bali Yagaya stands as an immensely valuable and unique heritage of our ritual performing arts.