Penglipuran

Penglipuran Village is one of the traditional villages that located in Bangli Regency, Bali Province, Indonesia. Penglipuran village is famous as one of the tourist destinations in Bali because of its society who still preserve their traditional culture in their daily lives. The architecture of buildings and land processing still follows the concept of Tri Hita Karana, the philosophy of Balinese society regarding the balance of relations between God, humans and their environment. Penglipuran Village succeeded in building tourism that benefited all of their communities without losing their culture and traditions. In 1995, Penglipuran Village also received a Kalpataru award from the Indonesian Government for its efforts to protect the Bamboo Forest in their local ecosystem.

Penglipuran village is one of the traditional villages from Bangli district and Bali province, Indonesia. The total area of this village reaches 112 hectares with an altitude of 500-600 meters above the sea and located about 5 kilometers from the Bangli City or 45 kilometers from the Denpasar City. The village is surrounded by other traditional villages. Kayang village in the north, Kubu village in the east, Gunaksa village in the south and Sansang river in the west. Temperatures vary from cool to cold (16-29 degrees) and averages rainfall around 2000 mm per year. Ground surface is consider flat with a height of 1-15 meters.

Penglipuran Village is believed to be inhabited during the reign of I Dewa Gede Putu Tangkeban III. Almost all of the villagers believe that they are from Bayung Gede Village. In that time, the people of Bayung Gede were people who were experts in religious, custom and defense activities. Because of their abilities, they are often called to the Bangli Kingdom. But because of the distance, the Bangli kingdom finally provided a temporary area for the people of Bayung Gede to rest. This place is often referred to as a Kubu Bayung. Kubu means "camp" and "bayung" means people from Bayung Gede village. This place is then believed to be the village they live in now. They also believe that this is the reason that explains the similarity of traditional rules and building structure between Penglipuran village and Bayung Gede village.

Regarding the origin of the word Panglipuran Village, there are 2 different perceptions that are believed by the community. The first is Penglipuran means "pengeling pura"[3] with "Pengeling" means to remember and "temple" means ancestral place. Furthermore, the second perception says that penglipura comes from the word "pelipur" which means comfort and "lipur" which means unhappiness. So if combined, penglipuran means a place for consolation. This perception arises because the Bangli king is said to often visit this village to meditate.

Based on records from Kelihan Dinas (officials below lurah that specifically handling government administration) in 2002, up until July there were 832 people living in Penglipuran Village. The 832 individuals consisted of 425 men and 407 women with 197 head of family. The families is divided by their status which is 76 head of families with Pangayah/Karma Pangarep status (permanent members with customary rights and obligations) and 121 heads of families with Pangayah/Krama Roban status (Temporary member referred to as the responsibility of one of Pangayah Pangarep).

The most recent data in early 2012 showed that there is no visible increase in the population of Penglipuran Village which consists of 980 individuals joined in 229 families (76 families), issued by I Wayan Kajeng, Chief Administrative of the Penglipuran Traditional Village). In 12 years the population in this village increased by 200 people.

Penglipuran is a village that still maintains their culture, traditions and bamboo forests in accordance with the principles of Tri Hita Karana. This then becomes an attraction for tourists to come to visit. Therefore, starting in 1993, the Balinese government promoted Penglipuran as a tourist destination. The Penglipuran community realizes their potential and applies "community-based-tourism" to avoid tourism capitalism in their village. With this concept, no individual will benefit directly from tourism because these benefits will be allocated for village development. Tourism actors such as tour guides, ticket guards and other officers will be directly employed by the village and get paid from the amount of profit earned, for example 40% of the total ticket sales.

In addition, before the concept was implemented, the people of Penglipuran village were usually able to benefit by inviting tourists to their “pekarangan” while explaining their traditions and culture. This is considered unfair because houses far from the main gate tend to get fewer opportunities. Therefore, through this new concept, all houses are given a number and the tour guide will provide a number with a rotating system to groups of tourists who come to visit. Each house is also given the opportunity to sell souvenirs in their Pekarangan by following their new concepts, for example 5,000 IDR from each sold souvenirs must be given back to support village development.

Before 2012, due to poor accommodations, tourists only spent 10-20 minutes in the village but many tourists ask to stay to spend more time in the village. At that time they were still doubtful because tourists might be a threat to their culture and traditions. But after 2012, tourists are allowed to stay after debriefing on how to behave in accordance with tradition and culture. This was later considered to have a good impact because it could expand employment opportunities in the future.

It is a beautiful highland village in the regency of Bangli in East Bali, best known for its well-preserved culture and village layout. While most of its residents have embraced modernity, its individual compounds are well-kept to look traditional with visitors in mind, with manicured gardens lining its single linear stone-paved street that runs through the center of the village toward the village temple, and age-old arched entrance gates and walls that conceal their houses within. Entrance fee costs IDR 30K per person. Book a full day Penglipuran tour and you will see some great tourist spot such as Kehen temple, Batur Volcano, Lake view, Coffee Luwak Plantation and finished in Ceking Tegallalang Rice Terrace.