Village Temples

Balinese society is complex and multifarious, being divided by social hierarchies based on caste, occupation and descent. In the not so distant past, the life of the ordinary man, or commoner, was largely restricted to his village and its surrounding rice fields, while at a supra-village level there existed an upper crust of priest, noblemen and princes, organised into a ruling elite. These divisions are still in evidence today-though the plight of the common man is far less onerous –but they are mediated by the village temple system and the cycle of festivals associated with them, which periodically draw these diverse groups together as common participants in a shared ritual undertaking.

The Balinese Village

The Balinese Village is referred to by the term desa, which describes both the settlement and its immediate environs as a physical entity, and at the same time refers to a religious community, mad up of local householders and their families, who are responsible for maintaining the ritual purity and spiritual well-being of the village and its surrounding lands. The latter is achieved by observing the local customary laws (desa adat) and by participation in the cycle of religious ceremonies that take place at the village temples. The actual village itself, as a collection of house compounds, is subdivided into neighbourhoods, or wards (banjar), each of which have their own local temple (pura pamasakan). Every banjar has specific ritual duties to fulfill, not only in relation to its own neighbourhood temple, but also to the main village temples. Banjar members also act together in secular matters such as the maintenance of roads and the policing of the neighbourhood.

Pura Desa

Pura Desa are ideally placed in an auspicious location at the centre of the village-a position which is both towards the mountain (kaja) ad to the east (kangin). A sacred banyan tree is usually planted beside the entrance which often grows to enormous proportions, providing a shady centre at the heart of the community. A pavilion (wantilan) for cockfights is also located nearby the sacrificial shedding of blood (caru) plays a crucial role in Balinese rituals and contest are permitted on the occasion of a temple festival, though gambling is strictly prohibited, in theory at least, by the Indonesian government.

Village assemblies to discuss both ritual and secular matters are held every month, either at the pura desa itself or else at the village assembly hall (bale agung) nearby. One of the principal responsibilities of the village assembly is the organization of the anniversary celebrations (odalan) for each of the village temples. The latter fall every 210 days, according to the sacred wuku calendar, and are intended to ritually cleanse the village territory and purify the members of the temple congregation. Everyone in the villages is involved in the preparation of offerings and the organization of various entertainments such as gamelan recitals and shadow puppet performances which are held for the enjoyment of the gods and mortals alike.