Preserving Ancestral Wisdom in Penglipuran, Bali

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

Penglipuran Traditional Village is also known as a traditional tourism village in Bangli Regency, Bali. A number of tourists visited Penglipuran Traditional Village to enjoy the traditional and natural village atmosphere, Monday (11/29/2021).

The Penglipuran customary village in Bangli regency, Bali, is preparing to hold a village festival for the eighth time. Ancestral wisdom in conserving nature continues to be maintained and residents reap the benefits.

The Penglipuran customary village will hold the eighth Penglipuran Village Festival from Tuesday to Sunday (7-12/12/2021). This year's festival is themed “Green Destination Based on CHSE”, referring to the acronym for cleanliness, health, safety and environmental sustainability.

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For days, residents have been enthusiastic about preparing for the village's annual celebration. On Monday (29/11), for example, the rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the residents as they set up bamboo tables along the telajakan, or green spaces on the roadside.

"Later on, every telajakan in front of people's houses will be decorated with bonsai trees," said Penglipuran Tourism Village manager I Nengah Moneng, 71.

It is hoped that the installation of bonsai trees in front of residents' houses will add to the beauty of the festival.

The village, which has been designated as a tourist village since 1993, is also known as one of the cleanest villages in the world.

"The area is clean," said Azel, 20, a tourist from Tangerang, Banten. Several times Azel took selfies at Instagrammable spots.

Azel, a student at Multimedia Nusantara University, Tangerang, said he had been interested in visiting Penglipuran during his vacation in Bali because he knew of the village's popularity on social media.

Kompas

A number of children in Penglipuran Village, Bangli, Bali are decorating household utensils made of woven bamboo, Friday (11/5/2007).

Thanks to the cleanliness of the village and the preservation of the environment, the Penglipuran customary village has received recognition from a number of institutions, including as one of the three cleanest villages in the world, according to Bombastic magazine in 2016. In addition, it received the 2019 Indonesian Sustainable Tourism Award for its application of the principles of sustainable cultural tourism.

Certification

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Penglipuran was listed as a tourist village that met the CHSE health protocol certification standards.

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In Penglipuran, travelers can enjoy the beauty of the forest around the village, as well as the uniqueness of local residents' settlements with similar traditional houses. The village is also free from all types of motorized vehicles, so tourists can walk freely and enjoy its natural charm pollution-free. Motorized vehicles are allowed to operate outside the village area or in the parking area.

This is done as a form of krama maintenance, as residents take care of the palemahan, the harmonious relationship between humans and the environment.

According to the Kelihan, or head, of Penglipuran customary village, I Wayan Budiarta, 41, the villagers are consciously and collectively keeping their environment clean. This is done as a form of krama maintenance, as residents take care of the palemahan, the harmonious relationship between humans and the environment. Routinely, the villagers work together to clean the village.

The ancestral wisdom of the residents is reflected in the zoning arrangement of Penglipuran village, or about 70 settlements of krama Pengarep (core residents). The arrangement is based on the Tri Mandala concept, namely the main, middle and outer parts. In an article entitled "Tri Mandala: Landscape of Cultural Tourism Development in Bali", Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati stated that the division of the Tri Mandala space in anthropology was called sacred, sacred-profane and profane.

Kompas

Penglipuran Traditional Village, Bangli District, Bangli Regency, is one of the mainstay rural natural attractions on the Island of the Gods.

A former Kelihan of Penglipuran customary village, I Wayan Supat, 54, said the popularity of Penglipuran customary village could not be separated from the role of journalists in the 1990s, who exposed the village to the attention of a wider audience. "Because it got the attention of many people, the Bangli regency administation, which was then led by regent Ida Bagus Ladip, reorganized Penglipuran village and improved it," he said.

A legacy of the village structuring program is that the main village road and the shape of the gate of the residents' houses is uniform, the roofs all made of bamboo shingles. The concept of angkul-angkul or gates with bamboo shingled roofs imitates the old buildings left in Penglipuran village.

"These bamboo shingled angkul-angkul are also the village's main attraction," said Supat.

Bamboo is close to the lives of residents because the village is surrounded by forests, including bamboo forests. At least 15 types of bamboo grow in the forest around the village.

KOMPAS/AGNES SWETTA PANDIA

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Penglipuran Village in Bangli Regency, Bali Province, was still visited by domestic tourists as seen on Thursday (28/2/2020).

The wisdom of Penglipuran residents, who still maintain their traditions and environment, impressed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno. He also noted his positive impression of the village on Twitter after he visited it on 26 Feb.

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko)