The famous Balinese Kecak "monkey" dance, a folk tradition in which tribal men sit in a circle and orchestrate chattering and clicks and voice with simple hand movements, has been overlaid with Hindu mythology to create a somewhat disjointed but otherwise compelling drama. A great example of modern narrative combining ancient and recent traditions into a widely adoptable whole, though the apparent seams reflect the recency of the integration, and will surely be smoothed out over the course of the next century or so.

We've just returned from Bali, where we observed fascinating Hindu rituals and traditions. The picture at right is of a crematory temple in the jungle at the fringes of Ubud. The statues are of horrific mother deities, the one on the left nursing an angelic cherub, the one on the right standing above a skull, the two together clearly representing the cycle of life. After the body is cremated, the ashes are buried in a graveyard to the right, and marked with a small headstone.