The victims of the blast were mainly foreign tourists

Hundreds of people, including victims of the blasts, attended the reopening of Paddy's Bar on the popular Kuta tourist strip.

The new bar, dubbed "Reloaded" after the Matrix film sequel, is only a short distance from the old site where 202 died in the attacks.

The victims, mostly foreign tourists from 21 different countries, were killed when two bombs exploded at Paddy's and the nearby Sari Club.

Paddy's owner Kadek Wiranatha said the reopening sent a message to the world that Bali was still alive.

"Our philosophy was that it was really important to open as soon as possible to show moral support for the Balinese people and the staff," he told BBC News Online.

"We have to show people that it is important to move on, that we should not give up."

Cleansing plants

He said his 100 or so staff, some of whom were injured in the attacks, had been living with the prospect of not having a job without the reopening of the bar.

But Mr Wiranatha said that his staff were as happy as the hundreds of revellers to be back in a Paddy's Bar in Kuta.

We are back again and working again Kadek Wiranatha Paddy's Bar owner

"They felt so, so good on Saturday to be together again with their friends," he said. "Especially the Australians who are regulars or who have friends who had a bad experience here, to sit down in Paddy's with the same staff."

Out of respect for Balinese Hindu culture he said he did not want to rebuild on the old site, which he called a "burial site".

The vacant land has been planted with banana groves as a way of "cleansing the site of bad spirits".

Mr Wiranatha said he plans a bigger event at the bar in October to mark the anniversary of the attacks.

More than 30 people have been arrested in connection with the bombings, including Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who said "places of sin" such as nightclubs were now quieter as a result of the Bali blasts.

A verdict in the case against Amrozi, who has admitted buying the explosives and the minivan used in the attacks, is expected on Thursday.