In Reply to: Meanings of statues - Buddha etc..... posted by joeyrobby on Monday, 3. March 2008 at 13:24 Bali Time:
The statues you see placed in the gardens of hotels have no real meaning. At the front of Temples, houses, bridges, official buildings, etc the Balinese like to place "guardian" statues to discourage evil influences from entering. There are many sorts, but all fall under the general title "Rakshasha". Although these are statues of Demons, they are working on "our" side and so are seen as benevolent. The Balinese Hindus stopped making statues of the Gods several hundred years ago. What you see in your hotel grounds are puely decorative and basically (except for the Guardians) put there for "your" benefit. At present, there is a renewed interest in India under larger segments of the population, and so one can see many statues, posters, icons, etc. that are actually cultural imported, but not original. Hope this was of some help.