Traditional Balinese textiles are renowned worldwide. While admired by many for their beauty and sheer artistry, textiles also play an important part in the daily life and ceremonies of the Balinese.
Textiles in Bali don't just provide clothing, they also indicate the status and well being of the wearer. Women from royal families compete with each other to make the most beautiful creations using the most sumptuous materials.
Moreover, many textiles were believed to hold magical powers which protected the wearer against malevolent influences. They also served as go-betweens to the supernatural world * in religious rituals such as cremations, when hundreds of metres of expensive cloth were turned into ashes to accompany the soul of the dead in its passage to the other world.
The guardians of the secret knowl­edge of textiles - like the ingredients for certain dyes and a rich compendium of sacred motifs - have always been the women of Bali. In fact, one of the most important duties of a mother is to contin­ue the tradition by handing down her knowledge to her daughter.
Ikat
Some of the best known traditional Balinese cloths include ikat (a Malay word meaning to tie or bind), an ancient tech­nique where a motif is dyed into the threads of a cloth before being woven. There are three types of ikat, two of which are found in Bali.
The first kind is "warp ikat", usually woven in silk. Found in many parts of Bali, it is usually used to make saput, outer sarongs, or the scarves worn on cer­emonial occasions. The Indian patola tex­tiles have influenced the designs and motifs, which the Balinese have redesigned with more abstract patterns, creating new variations.
Certainly the most famous ikat in Bali is the geringsing, only woven in a tiny vil­lage in Bali Aga called Tenganan. Here the ikat pattern is created in both the warp and welt threads. This process, known as "dou­ble ikat", is difficult, requiring both exper­tise and patience to align the two patterns.
Geringsing
The geringsing is considered sacred throughout Bali and has always been very rare and expensive. Many stories have been told about it - human blood is said to be needed in order to acquire its deep rich colour. Older items sometimes come up for sale but are inevitably damaged.

If you want to buy a geringsing, Tenganan is the worst place to start, as the villagers here would never sell you their sacred cloth. What is available is usually bought from outside to be sold at outrageous prices to unsuspecting tourists.
There are a number of places specializing in new ikat cloths. Singaraja in north Bali is renowned as home of the best ikat. Gianyar has many ikat factories with hundreds o women still weaving by hand. Sideman, on the way to Besakih Temple, also has a famous factory. I you are looking for a bargain, try Denpasar market.
Nowadays, ikat is rarely mad from woven silk but from cotton o rayon. Colours are usually very, bright and many of the motifs at new. To test the quality, find out i the colours run or the cloth shrinks