Balinese Offering Cover, Saab

The twenty beaded baskets in this collection are called saab or tudung saji and are used to cover the elaborate banten gebogan, or food-offerings that Balinese women take to a temple when there is a temple-festival. Once the ritual starts, the women take off these lids, in order that the essence of the offerings can reach the deities who come down for the festival. (source: email communication, National Museum of World Cultures, Leiden, 2021)