AN urban atmosphere filled with bustling activities, haste and various pollution may sometime makes you bored or inconvenient. So once in a while come and visit Penglipuran Village. This Balinese traditional village, which is located on the highlands of Bangli District, provides coolness and peace because of its beautiful environment. Approximately, it is 55 km from Kuta or can be covered within half an hour if the traffic condition is smooth.
Penglipuran village also holding the title of tourism village has many uniqueness that will enrich your travel experience. At first glance, this ancient village looks modern because it is carefully designed like urban residential area. Some other uniqueness of the Penglipuran village is as follows:
Village Layout
This village applies a spatial plan with the Tri Mandala concept where the village area is divided into three different zones based on function, namely the uttama, madya and nista mandala. Location of these three spaces stretches from the north (mountains) to south (sea) or from a higher place to a lower place, with a straight, terraced village road as the central axis separating the intermediate zone into two parts.
The northernmost is the uttama mandala or “space of the gods,” a sacred building called Penataran Temple as a place of worship for the villagers. As for the madya mandala or “human space” consists of 76 plots of yards and houses where residents live divided into two lines, namely 38 houses in the west and 38 others in the east. The southernmost part is the nista mandala or “space for people who have died” in the form of a grave.
Traditional architecture
All houses in this village look similar to each other and each has a similar entrance gate (angkul-angkul). Uniquely, the size of the main house of the residents at this village is exactly the same. The poles are made of wood and the roof is unique equally made from bamboo, but some other buildings already use modern roof tiles.
Each yard has several buildings in the form of bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, halls, barns and holy places. Between one yard and another there is a narrow road that connects the two.
Bamboo forest
In the south of the village there is a bamboo forest. The use of bamboo is quite a lot as a form of local wisdom in utilizing natural materials around it and for land conservation purposes. At Penglipuran, 40 percent (37 hectares) of the area is bamboo forest. Building materials can be taken from this forest. Additionally, bamboo is also used for craft products and ritual needs.
There are no stalls directly facing the main village road, instead they are built in the yard of the house itself. Typical products are woven bamboo, crafts and loloh cemcem or herbal drinks.
Roads without vehicles
Village road that separate residential clusters are maintained free from motorcycle and car. Besides, it does not use asphalt but paving blocks and mosaic stones. Vehicles owned by local villagers are placed in the garage behind the house passing through a different pathway.
‘Karang Memadu’
The people of Penglipuran Village prohibit having more than one wife or poligamy. If that happens, they must move from the main area of the village to the poligamy area or Karang Memadu (still inside the village area but not the main part). Their rights and obligations as residents of the Penglipuran customary village will be revoked. After moving, the villagers will make houses for them but they are not allowed to go through public roads or enter temples and participate in traditional activities.
Achievement
This Panglipuran Village in Bali received many awards from the government for its nature preservation and maintenance of village sanitation having been well maintained and sustainable. The life of the people applies the concept of Tri Hita Karana, a philosophy of Hindu society related to the harmonious relationship between humans and God (spirituality), humans and nature (environment) and humans and fellow humans (community). They build tourism for the welfare of the entire community without leaving their cultural heritage and traditions.
They consistently carry out noble cultural conservation for the benefit of future children and grandchildren and combine traditional arrangements with lots of open spaces and beautiful landscaping so that tourists feel the ancient time atmosphere of Bali. In 1995 this village won the Kalpataru award from the central government for its environmental conservation and won the title of the cleanest village in the world.
