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The Enlightened Kingdom of Bali and Lombok is a state in Asia.

History[]

During the eruption of the Ring of Fire in 2011, the Gunung Agung—the island’s holy mountain and seat of Siva (Shiva)—burst in a titanic volcanic eruption, killing hundreds of people and shrouding the island and the nearby Lombok in ash. It took weeks until the pall disappeared and the volcano stopped spitting lava. During this time, the Pandawa Lima (also called Five Pandawas) appeared at the Besakih temple, rising from the ashes during the pratima ceremonies. When rumor spread about the arrival of these bodhisattvas in Indonesia, Hindus from all over the world and all professions got attracted to Bali for spiritual enlightenment. After colonial times and religious reshuffling in Asia, Bali became a big enclave for Hindus in the Southeast Indies. The Balinese religion—the Agma Hindu Dharma—is actually a potpourri of Hindu elements and the old Aga culture. Aga’s an old form of animism where every hole in the swamp has its own swamphole god.

> Rajiv

Though a lot of people (especially the Javanese generals) have taken them for charlatans and frauds at first, the spirits have been running the show. After replacing the local administration in Denpasar with trusted dukuns (Brahman mystics) that act as their speakers, they declared the area as the Enlightened Kingdom of Bali and invited anyone seeking a place of spirituality and peace to the kingdom. The Pandawa Lima themselves have rarely appeared in public since then. The Five Pandawas are mythic Indonesian heroes. Their motivation regarding the island and population remains unclear, though. Since their arrival they haven’t done anything questionable, but imagining spirits running a government gives me the creeps.

> Redfoot Some arcane experts have been arguing about their nature for a very long time. They seem to be some kind of free spirits, but whether they are truly the Pandawas known from Balinese mythology or not remains a mystery. Because of their rare appearances, it is hypothesized that they can’t materialize for long.

> Magister

Today, the kingdom is a meeting place for the spiritually interested and the number one spot of the wellness-tourism industry. Several of the Hindus that immigrated into the kingdom set up resort complexes for wellness holidays of body

and mind, in which they offer healing, anti-aging and meditative treatments (including respective diets) native to Asia

(ranging from Chinese acupressure to Indian ayurveda).

Several corporations—especially the Japanese ones—have been sending their employees to Bali for stress management for years. This may be one reason why they have not meddled in the kingdom’s affairs so far (or allowed Java’s leaders to do so), instead even helping them hook the resorts up to the Javanese Matrix grid. Rumor on the Grand Tour is that the Balinese have a true fountain of youth. They can provide treatments that yield massive longevity, which is why several rich Europeans take a beauty trip here before the tour starts. Apparently the treatment is somehow connected to a substance unique to Bali called the “Ash of Siva,” which rained down when the Gunung Agung exploded.

> Baroness

> I don’t believe any of this spiritual shit. The Pandawas are preparing for some kind of conflict, that’s for sure. They have been training warrior adepts (called the Puputan) in an ancient martial arts technique (maybe an ancestral form of Pencak Silat) that focuses on battling spirits. Until the comet’s return, their task had only been safeguarding Bali as some kind of Awakened task force (wielding kris weapon foci of unknown origin). Lately, however, they have been spotted throughout the whole archipelago gathering information for the Pandawas—about what is beyond my knowledge.

> Phi Daeng

> Puputan is a warrior’s honorable but suicidal fight to the death when facing an unbeatable enemy—which says something about the foe these warriors were trained for, eh?

> Dalang

> The myth relates to an ancient feud between the Pandawa Lima and their 99 mischievous cousins, the Kurawa. Maybe 162 Shadows of Asia these are the spirits that appeared at the Borobudur monument on Java. > Sasak

Index[]

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