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This article was originally a paper when the author was asked to discuss Peer Holm Jorgensen’s work, The Missing History: Based on the True Story of Dewa Soeradjana, which was organized by the Bali Study Center-Udayana University in collaboration with Bentara Budaya. The title given by the author in connection with the discussion of the contents of the book is assesing the Witness of a Person in History Before the Events of September 30, 1965. It should be noted that until now, the development of Indonesian historiography is still far from the expectation of writing a complete and comprehensive history. This is because in addition to the limited historical sources available relating to the periods made in the writing of Indonesian history itself, such as between the classical historical period, modern history and contemporary history which entered into the realm of cultural studies as the post-modern era. The existence of gaps between these periods, especially in the post-revolutionary period, seems to be caused by the spirit of the times that developed after the end of the New Order era, where there was a demand for a forward total history writing. This means that there is now a demand for an open history writing, without any cover-up, so that Indonesian society in general and historians (professional historians), history enthusiasts, amateur historians, and students will be able to fully understand the history of their nation. The hope that this demand will get a chance, now that the New Order regime which ruled for more than 32 years in a centralized and authoritarian manner has ended. The hopes include the need to represent studies related to the demands of the reform era which want transparency, accountability, openness and provide defense to minority groups, and marginalized people as a result of policies that benefit the majority group. This condition gave the majority group an opportunity to legitimize its power, various strategies are carried ou

Due to the increased tourism development in Bali, there have been significant changes in Balinese views in the practices of their ritual and religious lives. Previously populated almost exclusively by Hindu Balinese, Bali has evolved to be a multicultural society resulting from the increased migration of people, ethnicities and ideas. In the past, any ritual and religious activities in accordance with the humanistic religious management had been carried out in the traditional kingdoms. However, the downfall of those traditional kingdoms has affected the emergence of significant issues in relation to who will be in charge in the ritual and religious activities that demand much financial outlay. This has brought about important issues in relation to the decrease in the Balinese who adhere to Hinduism, since most of them have no time to arrange these kinds of activities as most work in the tourist sector that demands effectiveness and efficiency. There are many questions to be discussed in this paper, namely, Firstly: What is the role of the state and society in the management of the ritual and religious activities in Bali? Secondly: What kinds of alternative solutions can solve the problems? And, Thirdly: How can these issues faced by the Balinese, be managed, since the Balinese do not only consist of followers of the Hindu religion but also other religions such as Islam, Christianity (Protestant and Catholic), Buddhism and Confucianism as well as the local beliefs that have been recognized by the state in the Reform period since 1998? Through answering these questions, it is expected to have a better understanding of the role of the state and society in the context of indigenous practices in Ritual and Religious Activities of Bali Hinduism in Indonesia.

One of the main issues that has been discussed in Indonesia regarding the democracy process in a modern world is about the feminism and gender issues. On the one hand, women are considered to play limited roles, whilst on the other hand, the men have always been considered to play a significant role. This can be traced back in the long process of the Balinese history not only in terms of political aspect, but also in the context of socio cultural aspects. It is important to look at what has happened in the Balinese societies, since Bali is known as a Hindu mozaic in Southeast Asia. The Balinese society has its own culture based on local culture that is strongly influenced by the Indian or Indic culture. The Balinese society is a patrilineal system, in which a man has a higher position, but in fact it was even Bali had a woman princess, who was of mixed Javanese and Balinese heritage, a wife of King Udayana of Bali between the 10th and 11th century. Both of them were considered as the Balinese kings at the same time. In the era of these two kings they were successful in integrating between Hinduism and Buddhism. Until now, the Balinese believe the soul of Mahendradatta as Durga. The main questions that will be addressed in this paper are firstly: how do the Balinese interpret the female deities? Secondly, how do they worship them? Thirdly, what is the meaning of this worship in terms of religious and cultural aspects in the modern and postmodern time? By discussing these issues, it is expected that we will have a better understanding on how the Balinese worship the female deities in the prehistoric, classical, and modern times in the context of a global or universal culture