TRUNYAN is a traditional village of Bali situated on the east bank of Lake Batur, Bangli. The village belongs to the Bali Aga or Ancient Bali village like the other such as Tenganan and Sembiran respectively having very unique traditions. So, it will be nice to be explored by taking Trunyan Village tour.
This Trunyan Village is isolated from Lake Batur having the shape of a crescent moon and is at the foot of Mount Abang. One of the ways to get to this village is by boat from the Kedisan Village pier.
Lexically, the village name Trunyan or Terunyan is derived from two words taru (meaning tree) and menyan (fragrant scent) growing at the cemetery of Trunyan village. It is estimated to have been thousands of years old and the size of the tree has not changed much.
According to the legend of the local people, once upon a time they were suddenly made confused by the smell of a strong fragrance throughout the village. It was so marked that many residents had a cold. In fact, the strong smell came from a large tree.
So that the pungent smell would no longer disturb the villagers, it was decided that the location where the tree was to be used as a burial place was decided. The taru menyan tree can only grow in this area, even though it has been tried to be planted in other areas.
Unique Traditions
Firstly, the unique tradition that the Trunyan people have is the treatment of corpses, where they are placed on the ground openly and only covered with a cloth and a bamboo canopy (ancak saji). Then, it is allowed to decompose naturally.
Local people believe that the influence of the taru menyan tree (the origin of the name Trunyan), which means a fragrant smelling tree near the graves, can prevent corpses from smelling bad.
Secondly, specifically for the bodies of husband and wife, when the whole body decomposed, the skulls are placed on a stone altar in the form of a staircase located about 500 meters north of the Kuban hamlet. And this place can only be reached by boat. However, if the deceased is not married, the body is buried in the Trunyan Village cemetery.
According to some experts, the method of funeral ceremony at this Trunyan Village in Bali is derived from the neolithic sect of the Bayu Religion. This sect is one of the six religious-spiritual sects from the pre-Hindu period in Bali. They worship the stars and the wind (blowing wind).
A source of inscriptions in the form of copper plates found in a main temple of Trunyan, the temple dated from at least the tenth century AD (833 Saka). The village is believed to be much older than the temple itself.
