- FLOWERS are not only beautiful but also exude fragrance so that they can soothe the ambience and calm the mind
- In Bali, flowers are widely used to fill in offerings to help mediate their worship to Creator to express gratitude
Hindu communities in Bali regularly perform simple ritual every day and different ones or festivals on particular days. It is meant to express gratitude for the life and wellbeing bestowed by the Creator and to beg blessing for their family, community and the universe. Thus, the entire universe and its inhabitants can live prosperously and peacefully.
One of the elements to fill in their offerings is flower of different kinds. Aside from exuding fragrance, the flowers also have different and beautiful colors resulting in vibrant atmosphere that will help soothe the mind and help deliver prayers.
Due to regular needs, some farmers intentionally cultivate the flowers such as marigold, water balsam, water lily, champak, ylang-ylang, local frangipani and hydrangea. The last flower can only grow well on highlands such as in Bedugul and Kintamani area. If it can grow in lowland, probably it does not bloom properly.
Many flower and ritual item traders can be easily found in every traditional markets. Every day farmers or suppliers deliver their flowers to retailers in the markets to meet the needs of Hindu communities. Apart from selling to individuals, the flower traders also sell flowers to oblation makers who make canang offerings along with its complements to meet the need their subscribers.
The need for hydrangea flower is not as much as other flowers such as water balsams. Nevertheless, it is always also presented. Though having no fragrance, its distinctively light blue to ocean blue color has added to the splendor of offerings other than red, white and purple balsams and yellow marigold.
Meanwhile, the price of hydrangea in Bali is not only determined by season, but also the demand of buyers. This will be highly influenced by the implementation of rituals. If there are big holidays or successive holiday, the price will be on the rise. Retailers maximally sell at the price of maximally IDR 40,000. However, normally it is just sold for IDR 10,000 or less.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, when the tourism in Bali ran well, the need for hydrangea was also high used to make flower arrangement and wedding ornament. On that account, it also influenced the demand for such flower.
