About Çudamani                                                              

The name Çudamani has many meanings including the third eye of Shiva that is the destroyer of ignorance; the jewel and symbol of sincerity and purity.

In the village of Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali, across the street from the temple, is a family compound that is the home to Çudamani. The village of Ubud is famous for its community of painters, weavers and musicians. Comprised of a 60 young virtuoso musicians and dancers, Çudamani is a professional company with a working philosophy much like a family temple or sanggar- that is, their work is dedicated to the communal and spiritual life of the villages. The company is famous for teaching, performing and preserving the rich and rare classical Balinese repertoire. At the same time, the composers contribute to both traditional and contemporary music, dance and shadow puppet projects.

The group traces its roots from the '70s when the children of Pengosekan gathered after school to play music in the village balai (pavilion.) Over the years these children formed a new kind of organization that has become a pride of the village. Tourism has had a powerful impact on the arts in Bali, particularly in Ubud, the famous tourist town just north of Pengosekan.

By the 1990s most of the musicians of Ubud were playing for tourists. Even today, orchestras that perform only for tourists have been increasingly luring the best young musicians into playing solely for tourists and moving away from any connection with the religious and communal life of the village. The youth of Pengosekan often found themselves working in this system experiencing the financial benefits of tourism while also being keenly aware of the artistic and cultural dangers of this arrangement.

As part of our work in the community, senior members teach gamelan and dance to over 100 youth and children ranging in age from 5-18 in afternoon and weekend classes that are offered to Balinese children at no cost. Çudamani is one of the very few organizations in Bali that teaches young girls to play gamelan, a realm that was until recently, reserved for men. teach the children of the village for free as a commitment to their belief that the vitality of Balinese arts relies on the connection of performance to the religious and social life of the village. At the same time, their virtuosic and musical versatility is respected in educational circles and sought after by major American composers.

In 2001 Çudamani received a grant from the Ford Foundation for its work in preservation, innovation and education. Çudamani and its members have toured Italy, Greece and the US and have collaborated with esteemed international artists such as UA, Kenny Endo, Larry Reed, Andrea Centazzo, Michael Tenzer, Ranee Ramaswamy and Chitresh Das Dance Company. Members of Çudamani work to achieve a balance of being active creative artists while also preserving ancient and rare forms of Balinese music and dance. In 2005 “Odalan Bali” toured USA under the auspices of the World Music Institute and with a portion of the music commissioned by the Savannah Music Festival. In addition to touring the USA, Çudamani has performed across Italy and Greece including the 2003 Cultural Olympiad in Greece and the World EXPO in Aichi, Japan.

Message from Cudamani

In Bali, our lives are filled with ceremonies. The Balinese Odalan is a temple ceremony that commemorates the beginning of a life. The main function of an Odalan, like all ceremonies, is to create and maintain harmony and balance. It is a way for us to do three important things: 1) To express our belief in the greatness of God; 2) To establish and keep our relations with other humans full of respect and love; 3) To take care of the natural world.

Our ceremonies are an opportunity to offer our prayers and gratitude to God through our work, performances and prayers. We strengthen our community by working together to prepare the offerings for the ceremonies. This is a time to share stories, enjoy each other’s company and work cooperatively toward a greater cause—while affirming our mutual respect and interdependence. Through our ceremonies we are reminded of the need to take care of the natural world.  We make ritual offerings of leaves, fruit and flowers, so we plant trees. We offer meat and eggs, so we take care of animals. We need water, so we take care of our lakes and forests. Our ceremonies remind us of the importance of these three worlds - the divine, the human and the natural. For us to have happiness in this life, we believe it is essential for us to have harmony and balance between these worlds. We always offer prayers and offerings before every performance, in Bali as well as on tour, but this production is not a Balinese ceremony. It is our way of bringing to you the inspiration, beauty, profound spiritual unity and the enjoyment that we feel during our ceremonies. It is our way of living.