Saturday, May 01, 2010

Happy birthday little Balinese girl

The #Tropenmuseum object for the month of May is a 1925 wooden statue of a birthday girl. The Balinese or Pawukon calendar has 210 days so it is likely her second birthday as she can already stand.

Newborns are always carried and only at their first birthday they get to touch the earth. For the first birthdays, a child is hung with jewellery. The golden disc around the pluck of hair protects the fontanelle, a place where evil spirits can easily enter. What is missing on the girl is the "gene-gene", this is a little box that Balinese children used to wear around their neck. In it is the dried end of the umbilical chord, there for their protection.

The Tropenmuseum is interested in learning about rituals around the first year of children.. Do you keep the first cut hair of your child for instance ?
Thanks,
      GerardM

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