A video of several women performing a Bollywood dance while donning Balinese traditional clothing in front of a temple in Gianyar went viral recently, prompting backlash from locals.
Local outlets reported that the women in the TikTok video hail from Denpasar and Bandung, West Java and became friends through a yoga community. While the TikTok video is no longer accessible after the original uploader’s account was set to private, a copy of the 12-second clip has circulated widely on social media.
The video depicts at least eight women wearing what seemed to be Balinese traditional clothing in white and yellow, while performing a dance to the tune of a Bollywood movie soundtrack. The video was taken at the Samuantiga Temple in Bedulu Village, Gianyar.
Local Hindu authorities said the dance was inappropriate because the temple was meant to be used for religious purposes only.
Some of the women reportedly visited the temple over the weekend to perform guru piduka (a traditional ceremony to beg for forgiveness), which was overseen by locals, including the temple’s supervisors.
Bedulu Bendesa (traditional village chief) Gusti Ngurah Made Serana stated that they accept the apology.
The video was reportedly taken in March but was uploaded in early May. The original uploader stated that the video was taken for their own amusement after attending ngayah (community service) at the temple.
The comments on several Instagram posts about the incident either condemned the women or advised people to be mindful of what they post on social media.
It was not the first time that somebody had committed a faux pas at Samuantiaga Temple. A couple of weeks ago, another video of a young man showing off a wrapped condom in his possession while attending a ceremony at the temple also went viral.
