The third threat, which Bali faces -- and that is really paradoxical -- is from Hindus.

Visiting Hindus scholars from India have thought that Balinese Hinduism is 'unorthodox' and needs to realign itself to a Vedantic mode.

This has created the beginning of a split amongst Balinese Hindus.

A small group, led by some of the teachers of the Bali Hindu University, which has more than a thousand students, are trying to bring into line Balinese Hinduism with its sister Indian concern, encouraging Balinese Hindus to go for tirtha yatras to India and visit Varanasi, Haridwar, Badrinath, Kurukshetra etc. They say that Balinese Hinduism missed the reforms introduced by Shankaracharya and that it should reconnect with Vedantic Hinduism -- rather than a Puranic one -- and they want to abolish castes, even though castes do not play an important role on the island.

There is another school of thought which wants to preserve Balinese culture; its individuality, its worship of one single divinity, its home temples and unique ways of worship. And thank god, at the moment, it is still in majority.

Image: At a temple on the island. Hindus make up 93 per cent of the island's population of 3.1 million. Image: Francois Gautier