R. Tan the Domestic Architecture of South Bali In: Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 123 (1967), No: 4, Leiden, 442-4
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R. Tan The domestic architecture of South Bali In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 123 (1967), no: 4, Leiden, 442-475 This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:53:05PM via free access THE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH BALI* outh Bali is the traditional term indicating the region south of of the mountain range which extends East-West across the Sisland. In Balinese this area is called "Bali-tengah", maning centra1 Bali. In a cultural sense, therefore, this area could almost be considered Bali proper. West Lombok, as part of Karangasem, see.ms nearer to this central area than the Eastern section of Jembrana. The narrow strip along the Northern shoreline is called "Den-bukit", over the mountains, similar to what "transmontane" mant tol the Romans. In iwlated pockets in the mwntainous districts dong the borders of North and South Bali live the Bali Aga, indigenous Balinese who are not "wong Majapahit", that is, descendants frcm the great East Javanece empire as a good Balinese claims to be.1 Together with the inhabitants of the island of Nusa Penida, the Bali Aga people constitute an older ethnic group. Aernoudt Lintgensz, rthe first Westemer to write on Bali, made some interesting observations on the dwellings which he visited in 1597. Yet in the abundance of publications that has since followed, domstic achitecture, i.e. the dwellings d Bali, is but slawly gaining the interest of scholars. Perhaps ,this is because domestic architecture is overshadowed by the exquisite ternples. This article will describe the different types of Balinese dwelling. As we are not conaerned in the first place with historica1 mmuments, buit rather with a living, traditional mode of residence which is in the process of bemg altered by outside influences, what will be described are the regulaities which occur in a number of dwellings and are therefore selected to iilustrate the norm. The Balinese have four names for their dwellings, viz. jero, pe- karangan, grya and puri. These term were probably first used in a * Adapted from the descriptive part of a thesis presented at Yale University, Department of the History of Art; in this study I arn greatly indebted to Professors V. R. van Romondt, E. Haverkamp-Begemann, V. J. Scully and Miss M. J. Adams. J. L. Swellengrebel, Kerk en Tenrpel op Bali, Den Haag 1948; p. 31. Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:53:05PM via free access THE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH BALI. 443 courteous umtext rakher than to defirze architectural typs, althmgh there are some typical features appearing in eack The jero and the pekarangan are the genera1 types. The farmer refers to the dwelling of a nobleman, that is, a mernber of the triwangsu ar the fist three castes, Brahmins, Ksatryas and Weshar ; ithe latter term refers to the dwellings d the m1m people ar Sztdras.2 Grya is the name given to the dwelling d a Brahmin who holds office as pedanda, a priest, for not al1 Brahmins become priests. A puri is the grand dwelling of the ruling princes, members of the Ksatrya caste. In sme villages there are mcrre than me pur;, since an old one might be abandd and left to elder relatives by a new ruler,3 or new ones added for the use of younger relatives.4 Even in ment times when architects build living spaces, architecture usually refers to buildings and faqades. In Bali, however, we have to apply the wwd to courts, whether or n& walled-in, in which a group d buildings are arranged ta fmm a temple or a house. The jero and the pekwangun consist of single counts, for which a term with a definite Southeast Asian etymology, "dwelling compound" 5 wil1 sometimes be used when there is no need to express the functional distinction. Other- wise the Balinese terms wili be left as they are. The cosmolog2cel order. One of the first things that strikes one abwt fthe Balinme is that they ever are conscious of their psition in space, adjusting their orientation to the Iaws of cosn101ogy.6 These principles underlie the laying out of a dwelling, a tmple <M a village. It is most important, therefore, to review briefly the cosmological systern of the Balinese befme discussing their architecture. It has already been statededthat South Bali is the center of life. Seen from thic region are the mountains to the North where the irrigating rivers spring, taking their course in deep Nwth-South ravines, finally * For more information, especially on the distinction of Balinese and Indian caste systems, C. Lekkerkerker, "De kastenmaatschappij in Britsch-Indië en op Bali", Mensch en Maatschappij, 11, 1926, p. 175-213, 300-334. This is the case in Karangasem. In Bangli. From Malay kampong = village. s J. Belo, "The Balinese temper", Character and Personulity, IV, 1935, p. 120- 146; repr. in D. G. Haring, ed., Personal Character and Cultural Milieu, Syracuse, 1948, p. 156-180; SPE p. 158. Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:53:05PM via free access 444 ROGER Y. D. TAN. discharging into the cauthem sea. It takes little irnagination to see in those lofty Northern regions, as the ancient Balinese did, the abode of the gods and ancestors, the smrce of al1 life, and the idea d the past; the sea in the South is by contrast the lowly and unholy netherworld where the future waas after death. Between this simple opposition of high against law, North against South, good against wil, past against future, was the intermediate sphere of this world, the present, called madyapada or mertyapada. Thus was created the tripaftite system prevailing to the present day. Probably at a still later date the East and West were projected int0 space to form the four-around-the-center idea.7 Finally, Hindu syhbolisms developed this idea into the nine cardinal points or namanga.9 Some even went further and added the Zenith and the Nadir to make up eleven points wiith their patron gods (ékadasa Rudra =' the eleva gods), but for practica1 purposes the former version is most frequentiy used. Fdlowing the subjugation d North Bali by Dutch expeditions in 1849, Friederich was the fist to take note of ithe ninefold pantheon when he translakd the manuscript Usana Bali,lo although he did not have the opportunity to study Balinese culture in actually and detail since the larger pant of the island was still terra incognita. When South Bali surrendered in 1908, the entire island was brought under direct rule of the Netherlands Indies and scholars began to reveal that this ninefold orientation plays an impressive role in temple building,ll religious rituals,lz even in the way one sleeps,l3 in short, in every Cf. F. D. E. van Ossenbruggen, "De oorsprong van het Javaansche begrip Montji-Pat . .", .Versl. en Med. Kon. Ak. Wet. afd. Lett., 111, 1918, p. 6-44. Actually it is difficult to establish when this Hindu influence entered, sec B. M. Goslings, "Een nawa-sanga van Lombok", Gedenksclrrift K.I., Den Haag, l%, p. 200-210. Q This is the current spelling which is explained etymologically as the Sanskrit word for nine (nawa) plus its Balinese equivalent (sanga). Other versions also exist, nuwa satzgha (Friederich), nawa sangga (Covarrubias) and nawa sanggah (van Romondt). I would have favored the latter as it would have the meaning of nine holy places or godly abodes, but I still lack supporting evidente. l0 R. H. T. Friederich, "De Oesana Bali", TNI, j 9, 111, 1847 (!), p. 245-373; probably acquired on political missions. 11 J. C. van Eerde, fCHindu-Javaanscheen Balische eeredienst", BKI, 65, 1911, p. 1-39; except for the five metal plates (prifiih) or nine precious stones (rzawaratna) stored in the top of a meru and the general northward ascension of the temple courts the ninefold layout is not as obvious as in Centra1 Java. 12 H. T. Damsté, "Balische oudheden", OV, 1922, p. 72-81; id., "Balische kleedjes en doeken, verband houdende met eeredienst en doodenzorg", Gedenkschrift K.I., Den Haag, 1926, p. 254-264. l3 Belo 1948: 163. Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 05:53:05PM via free access THE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH BALI. 445 living activity. Swellengrebel l* gave an excellent table of this ninefold system frmwhich the foilowing has been adapted to our needs. POINT BALINESE GOD ATTRIBUTE COLOR METAL -~ -pp-pp E Kangin Ishvara bajra white silver thunderbold S-E Kelod-Kangin Rudra duw rose censer crosier club ................................................................................................................................................................................................ W Kauh Mahadéva nagapasah yellow gold snake snare ................................................................................................................................................................................................ N-W Kaja-Kauh Sangkara angkus green elephant hook ................................................................................................................................................................................................ N Kaja Vishnu chakra black or iron discus dark blue ................................................................................................................................................................................................ N-E Kaja-Kangin Sambu trisula grey Center Pusèh Shiva padma multi- lead ( ?) lotus flower colored These gods are undoubtedly of Hindu origin, but unlike the poly- theistic character that they hein the land af their origin, they have al1 become overshadmed by the spirit of Shiva. Ishvara, Rudra, Mahe- shvara