Last year, we wrote a story about a Russian yogi who shot to infamy after posing naked by a sacred 700-year-old kayu putih (weeping paperbark) tree in Tabanan.
Twenty-eight-year-old Alina Fazleeva understandably became the subject of intense public outrage. She and her husband performed rituals to apologize to the spirits at Babakan Temple before being deported from Indonesia.
One would think that Fazleeva’s story would serve as a cautionary tale for everyone else.
That is not the case, as it turns out.
Social media activist Ni Luh Djelantik uploaded a picture yesterday of yet another woman posing by the very same tree on the grounds of the temple, which is located in Bayan Village.
“Go back to your country if you can’t respect our tradition and culture!” Ni Luh wrote on her Instagram account, which has 550,000 followers.
The photo shows a woman, whose identity is not yet verified per this article’s publication, with her back to the camera and her bare chest pressed against the bark of the tree.
Babakan Temple has yet to release a statement on the matter.
Denpasar Immigration Head Tedy Riyandi told Coconuts Bali via a text message that they have apprehended the woman. Details about the case will follow soon.
Last year’s brouhaha involving Fazleeva was preceded a week earlier by an uproar over a Canadian man who performed a naked haka-style dance atop the sacred Mt. Batur (managing to disrespect both Balinese and Maori culture at the same time).
This month, a foreign male was deported for taking off his pants on the sacred Mt. Agung.
While the line between what is considered sacred and obscene varies greatly between individuals and cultures, it should be common sense and common courtesy for people to research local cultural and religious norms before traveling to a foreign land and taking off your clothes.
Especially if you’re planning on posting content on social media for clout.
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