History

Gaining a deeper understanding of Bali’s culture and history significantly enriches your travel experience, allowing you to engage on a deeper and more authentic level with the island’s unique traditions, arts, spirituality and people. Why are there so many temples, why has Bali been so resilient to the outside influences, what are their values, how have they managed to preserve their culture and art withstanding the waves of mass tourism, and why is Bali at the same time under threat.

Bali’s history can be traced back to the Stone Age, with early cultural influences recorded

through ancient artifacts and inscriptions. Bali’s culture and history cannot be understood without linking it with it’s larger sister-island JAVA.

The original Balinese people are believed to descend from Austronesian-speaking migrants who came to Bali thousands of years ago, likely from Taiwan or Southeast Asia, predating the arrival of Hindu-Javanese influence by centuries. These early settlers are linked to the broader Austronesian migrations, which spread seafaring, agricultural, and cultural knowledge across the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, reaching as far as Madagascar and Easter Island.