Tenganan Village
Bali Tenganan Village is one of Bali’s oldest traditional villages, located in Karangasem Regency in the island’s east. This village is frequently mentioned in the cultural literature science of Tenganan Pegringsingan, which is well-known on the island. It has its own distinct local community life pattern, which is an example of Bali Aga Village cultures (Hindu Prehistoric) and distinct from other countryside in Bali’s plain. Nowadays, this village has been designated as a tourist site that can exhibit appealing and distinctive matters capable of adding variety of object and curiosity for tourists to visit. It was a wonderful pleasure to visit the oldest hamlet, which has preserved its traditions and culture from generation to generation and has not been degraded by time.
Things To Know Before Visit Tenganan Village
Tenganan hamlet is located in the eastern section of the island of Bali, namely in Karangasem, near to the tourist hotspot of Candidasa. The travel from Kuta to the east is rather long, taking approximately 2 hours. If you wish to go exploring on your own, you can use Google Maps to travel to this site from Tenganan village. And if you don’t want to explore on your own, our Bali Tour offers a Hire Car and Driver program that you can use to get here by delivering comfortable transportation as well as being accompanied by an expert driver who will make the trip to this hamlet extremely delightful, and you can also use it to go here.
The Mythology story of Tenganan Village can be told from several mythological stories that have to do with this Tenganan Pegringsingan village which is still alive among the people of Setempet, namely, in ancient times when it was still in the era of the Belalu kingdom which was led by a very powerful and arrogant king. named Mayadenawa, during his reign all the people of Peneges Village in the territory of this ancient kingdom were prohibited from carrying out religious ceremonies and praying to the Besakih Temple, the behavior of this Mayadenawa king was heard in heaven so that the gods were angry and Bhatara Indra came down to the world to fight the king. the very powerful king, in this war King Mayadenawa was defeated by Bhatara Indra, this victory was celebrated by the residents of Peneges Village and Bhatara Indra ordered the residents to return to pray to the Besakih temple, while this ceremony was named Asua Medayad, namely the sacrifice ceremony using use a horse with white hair named Onceswara.
From the Tenganan mythological story, As for the megalithic relic that was found, it was believed by the community that it was passed down from generation to generation that the relics were actually pieces of the Onceswara horse that were cut and thrown in all directions with the aim of expanding the territory of the land bestowed by Bhatara Indra, where the pieces of the horse are turned into stones and relics which are consecrated by the villagers of Tenganan and worshiped on certain days and the function is also different for each relic found here. now we can still see the relic and location of the horse onceswara died, where the local community considers it a holy place or places of worship such as:
- Kakidukun: Located in the northern part of Tenganan village which is a shape that resembles the phallus (pubic) of a horse in an upright position, according to local people’s beliefs, if there is a husband and wife who have not had children, they can apply here so that they can be blessed with a child
- Taikik Stone: located on the northern hill which is the largest monolith in Tenganan village, this taikik stone is considered as the entrails or dung of onceswara horses, as for religious ceremonies performed by local people here with the aim of asking for prosperity
- Penimbalan: located in the western part of Tenganan village in the form of a monolith which is considered the thigh of the onceswara horse, and this place is considered sacred and the religious ceremonies performed here are related to traditional ceremonies for Teruna Nyoman
- Batu Jaran: located in the north which is considered the place of death of this onceswara horse, which is where this place is also sanctified by the local community which became the early history of the formation of the Tenganan village which we can see today
Since Bhatara Indra said to inhabit this place, the villagers of Peneges built a village consisting of three hills, namely Kangin hill (east), Kaut hill (west) and Kaja hill (north), because the village is located between three hills, the village it is called by the name Middle and over time the middle word changes to Tenganan. It is a small village consisted of three Banjars (group of local community) those are Banjar Kauh, Banjar Tengah and Banjar Pande. The structure of resident in Tenganan village is built in linear consisted of six rays. Each of ray consisted of some lawn broadly, the building form where the local community use it to present the handicraft for tourists. All the tradition existences of the human being are harmoniously with the God, human and environment as according to Tri Hita Karana concept
Traditional houses in Tenganan Village have very significant differences with residential houses in Bali, where in general this difference is due to the concept of spatial division in Sanga Mandala, namely dividing the house plot into nine parts which are located in the northeast direction, which is the highest hierarchical area. which is influenced by the philosophy of seamount orientation and east west (rising and setting). In Tenganan village, the Meulu to Tengah concept applies in a residential plot with the highest hierarchical space located in an area close to the front/outside courtyard because the main road (awangan) is considered a sacred area. Residential houses in Tenganan Village always consist of four main building units, namely:
- Bale Buga: is a place to carry out ceremonial rituals more on a religious function. Judging from its function, the location of this building is always close to the main road or the cloud because the cloud is a sacred area. The roof of Bale Buga must be made of palpalan (coconut leaves) or palm fiber. The location of the Bale Buga building is integrated with the entrance or is called the Jelanan Awangan type or separately called the Kori Ngeleb type.
- Central Bale: Bale building which always consists of two rooms where one room/bale is for carrying out death rituals and the other room is for placing newborn babies.
- Bale Meten: This bale/building among other buildings has the most profane function, which can be modified and used daily as a bedroom or living room. However, when there is a wedding ceremony there is a ritual ceremony that is carried out in one of the rooms in this Bale.
- Paon or Kitchen: has the same function as the kitchen at home in general for cooking activities and other kitchen matters. However, in the kitchen of the Tenganan people, they are required to have a furnace (jalikan) because there is a ceremony that must be carried out in the jalikan. On the south side attached to the kitchen wall there is a bathroom.
Apart from being an old cultural village and maintaining its characteristics from generation to generation, there is one unique thing here, namely the weaving craft called the pegringsingan weaving craft. The famous traditional weaving craft of Pegringsingan in Tenganan village comes from the word geringsing which is derived from the words “gering” which means sick and “sing” which means no, which means no pain which is literally interpreted as a tool to keep away evil or magical activities. known as black magic to approach us. This pegringsingan weaving craft is only found in the village of Tenganan, which makes this village a characteristic of weaving, which is also known as Tenganan Pegringsingan Village. If you really like weaving, then you should visit this village to see the process of making pegringsingan woven cloth, where the manufacturing process is still very traditional and only the time for making one cloth takes a very long time of about 3-6 months and even if the motif is a bit complicated can take up to a year to complete, because the manufacturing process is very long, the price of this weaving is set a bit expensive
Since it was introduced to foreign tourists visiting this Tenganan village, the pegringsingan weaving craft is in great demand by foreign tourists and also many of the residents here have changed professions by weaving this pegringsingan cloth, you can see this if you enter this Tenganan village and look at it. On the left and right of the house there are household businesses that make this Tenganan Pegringsingan weaving, with very diverse motifs and at a hefty price, because the long manufacturing process makes the price a little expensive, but it will not be an obstacle for lovers of Pegringsingan weaving, because very commensurate with the resulting weaving, which is very amazing. A very beautiful work that you can only get in this Tenganan village, it is not wrong if this Tenganan village is also called the Tenganan Pegringsingan Village, because on the island of Bali only in Tenganan village there is this Pegringsingan weaving craft.
The pegringsingan woven fabric in Tenganan Village long ago functioned as a tool in various religious ceremonies such as the metatah ceremony (tooth cutting) and wedding ceremonies. The process of processing is long and also coloring that uses natural materials that cannot have a thick and long-lasting color if it is not given the color produced by candlenut oil, therefore making this pegringsingan woven fabric relatively expensive, and this pegringsingan weaving is one – the only one in Indonesia that uses the double ikat technique which requires a long process, and this gringsing fabric is one of the ancient cultural heritages in Bali that still survives today. And this pegringsingan woven fabric is also used as a souvenir for the participants of the 2022 G20 Summit which will be held in December on the island of Bali. for the economy of the local community in Tenganan Village
Tenganan village is also often referred to as Bali Aga and this village was not influenced by the culture of the Majapahit kingdom that entered Bali, so this village looks very unique in terms of culture and customs. Apart from being a very unique cultural tourism which still maintains its cultural tourism until now and also as one of the centers of the Pegringsingan weaving craft, it turns out that this Tenganan village has a very unique tradition called the Pandan War or better known as the Mekare-Kare. where village youths will fight each other using pandan leaves and wearing shields made of woven rattan. Mekare-kare is also the culmination of a traditional ceremonial procession called Usaba Sambah. During the war, the event will be enlivened by the accompaniment of seloding gamelan music. A tradition that is very unique and occurs not every day but only on certain days which falls once a year, so if you want to see this festival of wars of views, you have to ask the administrators of this Tenganan village about when the Perang pandan or Mekare – Kare festival takes place or better known as War Dance
This Mekare-kare procession or War Dance is one of the Tenganan people’s respects to Dewa Indra or the God of War because of the belief of the local community who does not know caste and considers Dewa Indra as the god of all gods. As for the festival of this pandanus war, it will last for one day and involve a fight between two people in a prepared arena with each armed with thorny pandanus and also a round shield made of rota, and there will be one referee who decides the winner and the loser, they will attack each other and defend with one person. Almost all participants will experience wounds all over their bodies due to the sharp thorns of pandan leaves on the skin, but traditional ingredients from grated turmeric and galangal have been prepared with added coconut oil to treat them, so they will not leave scars that are too deep. A very unique tradition in Tenganan Village that you can watch and only once a year on certain days
Visiting one of the cultural tours on the island of Bali, namely Tenganan Village or better known as Tenganan Pegringsingan Village in the eastern part of the island of Bali is one of the tours that will be very memorable in the hearts of visitors, with all the uniqueness of this Tenganan village making visitors very happy. enjoy walking around the village and seeing the village which is still preserved its customs and traditions from year to year and is not eroded by the erosion of an increasingly challenging era. The residents in Tenganan village are very united in preserving their culture, as for if you visit Tenganan village, there are several things you can do here to enjoy the beauty of the village and the unique customs and also see beautiful handicrafts
- Village Tenganan: You can enjoy the beauty of the customs here which are still very well preserved by walking around the village of Tenganan and seeing the daily social life of the people here which is still awake and you can mingle with the local community of Tenganan village because the residents of this village do not get much influence from the outside so that their daily lives are similar to the past.
- Take a photo at the Traditional House: Besides that, you also visit one of the traditional houses here and take pictures in one of the old houses, where the building is still very well preserved from year to year which can be seen here, without a touch of modernization making the people’s houses here look like houses that existed in ancient times, a very pleasant sensation to take pictures at homes that existed in the past
- Pegringsingan Crafs: Besides that, you can also visit one of the famous pegringsingan crafts in this Tenganan village, you can see the weaving process carried out by local people here, a very unique process that produces very beautiful works, you can also buy pegringsinan cloth this as a gift
- Watching the War Dance Tradition: As for the blooming tradition, you can’t see it often, because it’s only held on certain days, usually after Nyepi Day and some days there will be a blooming curry tradition, so this is a very rare event, if you want to watch please see the schedule first
- Watching the Swing Tradition: Another tradition is the swing, where when the girls are about to grow up, they will wear traditional clothes and pegringsingan cloth and sit on a big swing made of wood which is moved by 2 people and its meaning is to represent the life that continues to revolve , but this is only held if there are girls who are about to grow up in the village
- Buy Souvenirs: Besides pegringsingan cloth, here there are also various types of handicrafts that you can buy for you to use as souvenirs for those who have visited Tenganan village, such as painting on palm leaves, drawn eggs, animal bone crafts, mask crafts and others that will surely amaze you to see it
The facilities in this Tenganan village cultural tourism are very complete, there is a large parking area for tourists who bring vehicles here, can park freely and without worrying, and also visitors will feel comfortable when visiting this area, because several facilities are available here, such as food stalls, good toilets, art shops and a large enough parking area. There are toilet facilities that are quite clean by paying a donation you can use this toilet, and there is also a small shop that sells cold food and drinks here, so you don’t need to hesitate anymore to look for drinks that will quench your thirst, there are several souvenir shops around the counter parking area that you can buy as a souvenir has visited this Tenganan old village. A very good facility and will certainly make you feel at home for a long time in this place while seeing the social activities of the residents of this Tenganan village which is very unique and still maintains its characteristics until now
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