DWE Nyambu Package Trial

DWE Nyambu Package Trial

“One important thing to tell and discuss is the challenges faced by Nyambu farmers today. Water availability is decreasing, causing planting times to have to be rotated, no longer at the same time. In addition, the younger generation, the children of farmers, are no longer continuing their parents’ profession. After graduating from school/college, no one is interested in working in agriculture, let alone becoming a farmer.”

That was the most interesting conversation on the riverbank, when we took a break during the Nyambu DWE Package Trial activity, November 18, 2024. In fact, Nyambu is known as an urban village that still has a large rice field area, which is more than 61%. This was known in 2015, namely when the mapping of the village area was carried out. However, now it has decreased by more than 5% due to land conversion, as well as changes in ownership.

This can be seen directly from the changed DWE Nyambu trekking route. When DWE Nyambu was first introduced in 2016, there were three ecotourism packages that were prepared, namely Rice Field Tour, Cultural Tour, and Cycling. At that time, the rice field trekking route crossed the rice field area on the north side of the village, in Banjar Carik Padang. However, later the rice fields on the route were converted into buildings. Then, the trekking route was moved south, to Banjar Mundeh and Banjar Kebayan.

The new DWE Nyambu route starts from Rumah Nyambu, eastward through the Subak Mundeh rice field area until it meets the river. This river is one of the sources of irrigation for the rice fields in the Banjar Carik Padang area. This is where we discussed while resting. The attraction of tourism is a challenge in itself in an effort to maintain the source of life for the Nyambu community.

DWE Nyambu was basically built as a tool to arouse the love of Nyambu residents for the village with the agricultural life and culture in it. Of the 67 temples spread across Nyambu Village, most of them are related to agriculture. The traditional and religious rituals/ceremonies carried out are also closely related to the rice growth cycle, starting from asking for water for irrigation, sowing seeds, to storing the harvest in the barn.

We continued our journey north until we met the highway, then turned west until we reached the Nyambu Village Office. Around 2018, the village office was used as a place to receive guests of DWE Nyambu. Nyambu Village includes two traditional villages, namely Mundeh Traditional Village and part of Kaba-Kaba Traditional Village. The village office is located in Mundeh Traditional Village, an old village that existed before the arrival of Majapahit to Bali in the 14th century.

Other points visited were the Rsi Temple which houses the footprints of Dang Hyang Nirartha as proof of his arrival in this area, as well as the Puseh Desa Temple and Penataran Temple. The Puseh Desa Temple is one of the proofs of Mundeh’s existence as an old village, even before the 11th century, when Mpu Kuturan introduced the concept of Tri Murti and Kahyangan Tiga. Meanwhile, the outside of the Penataran Temple wall is decorated with carvings of Tantri stories that convey moral messages through animal stories (fables).

Upon arriving back at Rumah Nyambu, Nyambu’s special culinary delights were waiting. Moringa vegetables and be lindung (fried eel) are the mainstay menus, as well as corn fritters. Most of the raw materials are obtained in the village, some are even picked directly from the garden. After enjoying lunch, let’s learn to make jaje pulung-pulung (ball cakes) and canang (offering). It turns out that the selection of flower colors and their placement on the canang is not arbitrary, but is adjusted to the color of the Gods: red (God Brahma) in the south, white (Iswara Village) in the east, dark colors (purple/blue – God Wisnu) in the north, and yellow (God Mahadewa) in the west.

The interesting thing felt by the participants was the implementation of the concept of sustainability, the warm atmosphere created, interesting activities, and delicious local food. There are also several things that need to be fixed and improved, including making ventilation in Rumah Nyambu for wind and lighting, arranging the entrance so that it is not muddy, providing interesting information media so that guests can more easily understand the story being told, and packaging activities to be more interactive and educational.

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