Tenganan Village, The Beauty of The Oldest Village in Bali

Tenganan village, the beauty of the oldest village in Bali, that existed in Bali before the entry of Hindu influence from Majapahit kingdom.

And holding rules and norms passed down from generation to generation in the midst of changing times.

The island of Bali has many ancient villages that hold traditions from generation to generation to this day.

The existing tradition from time to time and has become the standard rule governing the life order of the village community.

And one of the villages in Bali is Tenganan Village or known as Tenganan Pengrisingan.

Balinese people generally refer to these villages as Bali Aga villages. Tenganan Village.

Where the pattern and order of life for the Balinese village community is quite different from the pattern and order of life for Balinese people in general.

Located in the Manggis sub-district, Karangasem district and is close to the Candi Dasa tourist area.

Which is only about 5 km away and takes about 10 minutes to drive, so when you are in the Manggis sub-district you can visit two tourist attractions at once.

As one of the cultural tourism destinations in Bali, the uniqueness of Tenganan village has its own charm for tourists who visit Tenganan village.

Especially in the system that applies to the life of village communities that regulate all forms of life in society.

There is an endogamy system. In which indigenous people must comply with customary law.

And requires them to marry other indigenous people of Tenganan village.

And if you violate these provisions, you will get a customary sanction, namely leaving the customary village.

This is done to maintain the continuity of the Tenganan natives.

There are many unique things that you can find while traveling in the village.

Interested to see The Beauty of The Oldest Village in Bali?

The History Of The Traditional Village

Tenganan comes from the middle word or ngetengahang which means movement or movement to an area or place that is in the middle or deeper.

And in this case it refers to the movement of village people from the coastal area to residential areas in the middle of the hill, namely Kauh Hill (west) and Kangin Hill (East).

The history of this village, according to the version of the belief of the indigenous people, is inseparable from the mythology of the giant king Mayadenawa in Bedahulu.

Who is said to be an arrogant king who was eventually defeat by the god Indra in battle.

After the victory, the god Indra perform the Aswameda Yadnya ceremony by sacrificing a supposedly powerful horse named Ucchaih Srawa.

The Ucchaich Srawa’s horse, know that he would be sacrifice in the Aswameda Yadnya ceremony and finally escape

And to find the horse ucchaich Srawa god indra sent the village community to look for it.

And in his search the horse was dead.

Then Dewa Indra also gave the area to the people who found the horse carcass. On condition that the area is determine as far as the smell of the horse carcass can be smell.

And to get a wider area, the horse carcasses were cut up and spread in all directions as far as the people could walk.

The role of god Indra was so great in fighting the arrogant King Maya Denawa.

Causing the people of Tenganan to become adherents of belief in the god Indra.

And you can find this in the mekere-mekere tradition, namely the pandan war tradition carried out by the people of Tenganan village from generation to generation.

The Attraction of Tenganan Village

As a cultural tourism destination, of course Tenganan Village has culture and art that make it interesting.
And this is the culture and art by the people of Tenganan Village.

1. The Art of Weaving double tie Gringsing Cloth

Gringsing woven fabric comes from the words gring and sing, where “gring” means sick and “sing” means not.

Which means anyone who uses this gringsing cloth is expected to avoid danger and disease.

Using a double tie woven technique while the manufacture of gringsing woven cloth takes months or even years.

Based on the myth, the existence of ngringsing cloth originates from God Indra’s admiration for the beauty of the sky at night, and describes this beauty through woven motifs.

The gringsing cloth motif uses tridatu colors, namely red, black and yellow.

Which these colors are produced from natural ingredients.

Such as a mixture of white kedungung tree petals (baccaurea racemosa) and the roots of the noni tree (Morinda Citrifolia) for the red dye.

Then candlenut fruit oil as the yellow dye and the taum tree as the black dye.

And Gringsing cloth weaving has many motifs.

Such as Lubeng, Sanan Empeg, Cecempakaan, Cemplong, Cemplong, Gringsing Isi, Wayang.

And teteledan, enjekan siap, pepare, gegonggangan, sitan pegat, Dinding Ai , Dinding Sigading, Talidandan, Batu tuung.

2. Pandan War Tradition (Mekere -Kere)

This tradition involves the traditional Tenganan village youths. This procession is an offering ceremony to honor the ancestors and the god Indra.

This tradition begins with a ritual around the village to ask for protection and safety.

The pandan war tradition uses tied thorny Pandanus which is likened to a mace. And a shield or shield made of rattan.

The youths will take turns doing the pandan war for 1 minute, and after finishing the pandan war, the youths will be treated with traditional medicine in the form of a mixture of grated turmeric and coconut oil.

And at the end of the tradition, the participants and the community carry out the Megibung tradition, namely eating together by eating the food that is available.

3. Prasi Painting (Lontar Writing Art)

Is one of the traditional fine arts that  from generation to generation because of its characteristics which have aesthetic value.

The main ingredient of this art is palm leaves which are paint proccess using a special knife call Pangrupak.
when traveling to Tenganan village you will find Prasi writing craftsmen.

4. The Architecture Of Tenganan Village Buildings is Linear from North to South

The traditional settlement of Tenganan village has a pattern that is arrange linearly from north to south with the front gate entering the house yard called Jelanan Awangan facing west or east.

The awangan is a layer of river stone with steps as a feature of the megalithic culture, which is getting higher and higher to the north.

Is the outermost courtyard of the indigenous people’s settlement which functions as a social space and a road.

The boundary between One Awangan and the Other is a water ditch call Boatan.

And the backyard boundary of each house is in the form of a water ditch as deep as 1 – 1.5 meters which is call Teba Pisan.

Tenganan village traditional house made of a mixture of red stone, river stone and soil.

And rumbi leaves as the roof of each resident’s house.  Marked by a wide entrance and the same size as adults.

The settlement of the Tenganan village community is centered in the middle of the village which has an area of 1500 hectares.

Which is surrounding by hills on the east, west and north while the southern part is the exit from the village.

Village community activities in the center of the village. While the west and east sides are use for graves, and on the north side for economic resources and on the south side are use for ancestor worship.

The customary settlement consists of three banjars, namely Banjar Kauh (West), Banjar Tengah and Banjar Kangin (East).

Banjar Kauh and Banjar Tengah are settlements for the indigenous people of Tenganan.

While Kangin banjar is a banjar inhabit by residents who have violate customary rules as well as outsiders who are asking to stay by the traditional village for certain purposes.

And for residents who are marry, especially residents of Banjar Kauh and Banjar Tengah.

They are  live separately from their parents and build buildings from vacant land in traditional villages and follow the structure of the Tenganan house.

Tips to Visit Tenganan Traditional Village Bali

There are no specific tips for visiting Tenganan Village, it’s just that you are obey to respect and maintain the environment and nature of Tenganan Village and the customs of the Tenganan people.

You can visit this village anytime but the best time to visit this village is between June and July, so you can witness the famous Mekare – kare tradition from Tenganan village.

Those are some reviews of Tenganan Village as one of the ancient villages in Bali. Hopefully this article helps you to provide an overview and information about the uniqueness and features of Tenganan village.

And as a complement to the information, it’s a good idea to read some references to tourist attractions in Karangasem regency that you can visit.

1. Tirta Gangga Karangasem Bali – Royal Water Palace of Tirta Gangga
2. Lempuyang Temple Tour Gates of Heaven
3. Besakih Temple and Lempuyang Gates of Heaven Tour
4. Taman Ujung Water Palace, A Stunning Royal Park