Stone carvings are also integrated into the architecture of temples, buildings and houses. Temple walls and statues depict demons and deities, as well as Dutch colonialists and scenes of drunken parties, car breakdowns and even a bike rider. The carvings on gateways are more elaborate as they are the borders that isolate the inner world from the outer world.

Today, Bali is no longer an agrarian society. Tourism is bringing in twice as much as agriculture and the population is relocating to the coastal areas and along the main roads, upsetting the old agrarian patterns. Tourism itself is eating up ever larger chunks of the island. The consequences can be easily guessed: land is too scarce to allow for the preservation of the old harmony.

Attempts have been made to answer the challenge. The principle of cosmic harmony between Man, Nature and God has been made the semi-official ideology of the island (under the name of Tri Hita Karana, the three causes of happiness). Regarding tourism development policy, the regional government has tried with some success to enforce "design specifications" reflecting the Balinese concept of architecture. The construction permits of the hotels in the Nusa Dua Resort have thus all been delivered under the scrutiny of a design committee and on the condition that they display the tripartite structure. The result is sometimes surprising