The Bulian Curse

A hightlite of our trip to Bali was our visit to Bulian Village, the tiny home village of our guide Komang. The typical tour guide would lead you to temple after temple after temple, but when you roll with Komang you get a truly local Balinese perspective.

Komang spins a great story of how Bulian is known as the “cursed village.” Long ago a village girl wandered into the woods to collect firewood but she got lost. She finally made her way back home but was not feeling well and it later became apparent that she was pregnant. Her family and the villagers were furious but she insisted that nothing had gone on in the woods and that it was an immaculate conception. Well, a baby boy was eventually born and he turned out to be a bit of a hellion. The villagers eventually lost patience with the boy's misbehavior so they built a huge pyre on which to burn he and his mother. But as the boy was about to be set alight, he disappeared momentarily before appearing high above the fire, floating in the air. (See photo below) He told the frightened villagers beneath him that the next 8 generations of Bulian villagers would be cursed, and then he would return to Bulian in spirit form to determine whether the curse should be lifted. (Immaculate conception, bloodthirsty rabble, second comings…..sound familiar?)

Well, sure enough in the following 8 generations, the fruit stopped growing on the trees, families became disagreeable with each other, the wells ran dry of drinking water, cats chased dogs, etc. And Komang just happens to belong to the 8th generation! Tough timing for him but he has led the effort for the village to build a new temple for the return of the Boy spirit and he shows such relief for his village and for his own children that they will live unburdened by the Curse.