Regarded as the most sacred of all Balinese cloths, 'Geringsing' are particular to the village of Tenganan in east Bali. This textile is woven from handspun silk on a simple back-strap loom and the pattern is drawn from the idioms of Indian design, particularly the designs of the 'patola' cloths. The structure of the design consists of a sequence of large star-shaped mandalas surrounded by more abstracted motifs still recognised by the Hindu weavers of Tenganan as small house temples and sources of holy water. ‘Geringsing' are of particular importance for their use in magic, ritual and ceremony throughout Bali. The warp ends have been cut off, signifying their use in human, as opposed to divine, ceremonies. The small holes in this textile are not moth holes but are part of the sacred use of these textiles where fragments are cut from these cloths and boiled, the liquid drunk as a medicine.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, August 2000