Part One – Reflection on Mass Tourism in Bali with Toyo University Students

The Village Ecotourism Network (JED) had the opportunity to facilitate a study visit related to Community-Based Tourism (CBT) from Toyo University, Japan. 18 students and 1 accompanying professor explored Bali for 10 days starting from September 2-11. The villages that were the destinations for this study visit included Banjar Adat Kiadan – Pelaga Village, Pedawa Village, Adat Dalem Tamblingan, Jatiluwih Village, and Tenganan Pegringsingan Village.

First Day Activities – September 2, 2024

After lunch, the students visited the Bali Museum. This museum is located in the heart of Denpasar City, close to Puputan Badung Square. This visit was guided by one of the officers from the UPTD Bali Museum. Here, participants get an overview of Bali from a cultural perspective and prehistoric relics found in Bali. Some of the things that can be seen in this museum include:

1. East Building, the first visit begins at the East Building, 1st floor. There are many prehistoric, historical relics, and those related to the peaks of Balinese culture. East Building, 1st floor, exhibits prehistoric relics that are grouped into 4 (four) periods, namely:

• Simple hunting and gathering period
• Advanced hunting and gathering period
• Cultivation period
• Bronze period

While the Historical Period collection is grouped into three periods, namely:

• Ancient Balinese Period
• Middle Balinese Period
• New Balinese Period

The things that can be observed are the presence of sarcophagi used as coffins, various types of chisels for cutting animals, roof axes used for farming, funnel axes as agricultural tools, spearheads as war tools, stone thrones as tribal chiefs’ seats, bronze jewelry, bronze fragments as a medium of worship, ceramic jars for cosmetics, stupikas for worship, inscriptions and statues of embodiments for worship.

The tour then continues to the East Building, 2nd floor. This room exhibits collections related to the peaks of Balinese culture in various aspects of life. The peaks of Balinese culture can be seen from various aspects of life, including: religious aspects, arts such as fine arts including sculpture, painting, art (architecture), agriculture, textiles, and modern technology. Ethnographic collections include heirlooms, religious ceremony equipment, wali dances, and sacred buildings. The arrangement of the Bali Museum collection is quite representative of the culture spread across Bali. By looking at the layout of the Bali Museum collection exhibition, students can imagine the cultures that exist in Bali at a glance such as cremation ceremonies, tooth filing ceremonies, 3-monthly ceremonies, selonding (traditional musical from east of Bali), traditional rice field plowing tools, cag-cag machines for weaving, and cotton spinning tools. Participants were very amazed when they heard the large costs incurred for the Ngaben ceremony, especially for priests and kings.

1. Buleleng Building exhibits the development of currency before and after kepeng money in Bali. This is reviewed from the history of Buleleng Regency which is the initial milestone of the economy in Bali. The types of kepeng money exhibited such as arjuna kepeng money, it is said that it can attract women if they keep this arjuna coin. Other kepeng coins are moon coin (pis bulan), sun coin (pis surya), and the gobog coin of Majapahit.
2. Karangasem Building exhibits Cili as a symbol of fertility which is believed to have a great influence on the lives of the Balinese people and is used in several fields such as in religious rituals to architectural art.
3. Tabanan Building which in terms of its history is used to exhibit heirlooms or sacred objects and in this exhibition exhibits the development of the keris as a masterpiece of the archipelago, its history, form and daily use in the lives of the Balinese people, both in religious ceremonies and as a means of self-protection. The keris stored in this building have various shapes, some are straight and some are wavy.

Day Two Activities – September 3, 2024

In the morning session, students received material from JED and the Wisnu Foundation. Before listening to the material that would be presented, students were given the opportunity to introduce themselves and the reasons for choosing the global and regional studies major. On average, those who take part in the program and study in this major want to explore political issues, community development, tourism, culture from various countries, and the use of sustainable resources in harmony with nature. The students were also divided into several groups and given assignments related to ceremonies, rituals such as ngaben, traditional clothing, the subak system, and community-based tourism.

The material provided by the Wisnu Foundation was about the history of Wisnu, the work and challenges that the Wisnu Foundation has carried out in various communities such as regional mapping, the history of tourism in Bali, the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, and Balinese culture in general. The most important thing is how people in the village recognize the area and its potential. These materials were delivered by Mr. Made Suarnatha as the founder and chairman of the Wisnu Foundation. The material about JED was given by Mr. Gede Sughiarta. The JED material explained more about the history of JED, the purpose of establishing JED, the concept of ecotourism and explained that tourism is a bonus from what already exists in the village. In the final session, participants also received a briefing on the ethics of visiting the village and a general description of the conditions that will be found in the village. The briefing session was given by Mr. Wayan Sadyana, a Lecturer in Japanese Literature at Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha) and the founder of Pondok Literasi Sabih which will be visited on September 5. Participants also received a brief explanation about Pedawa Village, where this village has 9 sarcophagus sites and a pitra yadnya ritual, namely the Ngangkid Ceremony. This ceremony is a death ceremony in the style of Pedawa Village. The Ngangkid Ceremony is a sacred sacrifice to the spirits by lifting the spirit from the Pengangkidan River to then be manifested (kadegang) in Kunduh. Kunduh is the embodiment of the spirit (a kind of sekah). The purpose of holding the Ngangkid Ceremony is for the spirit to reach the realm of the gods and as payment of the debt of sentana to the ancestors. This ceremony is usually held every 5 years. In addition, the students were explained some similarities between temples in Bali and Shinto shrines in Japan such as pelinggih similar to sessha and pelangkiran similar to kami dana. In the afternoon, the students were taken to visit Sanur beach and a turtle hatchery.

Please wait for the story on the Third and Fourth Days.