Bali Culture: Traditional Building

The council usually elects one of its members, a popular and influential man or the son of a former well-respected chief, to be the village head man, or klian desa. His services are not paid for, and once elected he cannot refuse office. However he is generally relieved to some small extent from taxes, which provides some slight reward. He presides over meetings, administers the society of the village and organises village festivals. The village kulkul, consisting generally of two hollow wooden logs with on open slot cut in one side of each suspended from an overhead structure on a tower located at the village centre, is used to call the krama desa together (Plate 6). By striking the logs with a wooden bar in different positions, high or low notes may be sounded. Patterns of sound combined with patterns of rhythm serve to call the villagers together for various purposes, to sound an alarm, to inform the villagers of processions and other events, and so on. These bell towers are often very ornate in character, ornamented with intricate and elaborate sculpture, with porcelain plates or other added features. They provide a study in themselves of the development of a typical Balinese art form. They are very often incorporated as part of the village temple compound. When the krama desa is called together it meets in the bale agung, the village meeting house, generally an open thatched pavilion located at the village centre. Strict precedence governs the order of seating of the members and the newly-elected are generally seated on the floor until the death of some older member creates a vacant seat, from which the member will move as his seniority increases. The desa in session makes all the decisions concerning the functioning of the village and the allocation of village duties. It attends to the organisation of festivals and to the welfare of the village generally. It also administers the law and village justice. Punishment by a man's equals may not be severe, but it is effective. A bad man is in fact boycotted by his community. Banishment from the village society is regarded in the same light as capital punishment, because such a person cannot be admitted into any other community and becomes a social outcast. The most serious village crimes are those that affect the village welfare-temple vandalism, theft from the gods, running amok, consistent failure to carry out village duties, absence from meetings, incest and even witchcraft. The Balinese delight in gambling, particularly at cockfights. But gambling is illegal without licence, in Indonesia. However, cokfights are considered on proper occasions to be a part of religious ritual connected with purification by the letting of blood. On these occasions gambling is permitted. Cockfights are held in an open pavilion type of arena under a thatched roof for shade and since they are a part of temple formality, the pavilion, or wantilan, is very often located in the outer compound of the village temple. To the average westerner, cockfighting has little interest as a sport or as a spectacle in itself, but no visitor should miss an opportunity to watch the procedure leading up to the actual contests. The lengthy process of challenge between owner', the selection of the final contestants, the attachment of the iaror-sharp spurs by binding to the feet, the continual fondling and massaging of the birds by their owners and the final incitement and hackle raising before each fight starts are worth watching. And the excitement when the betting starts has to be seen to be believed. The village temple or pura desa consists essentially of an outer compound entered through an open 'split' gateway (Plate tg), which may include pavilions for food preparation, and a second (and sometimes a third) internal compound entered through a closed-top gateway (Plates y, t6), in which are located the various shrines to the supreme god and his reino:arnatiuns and manifestations, to various spirits, to former leaders and others, and a closed and lo:ked pavilion in which the village records, valuables, masks and costumes and perhaps musical instruments are kept. The waringin or sacred banyan tree is also used for religious rites as well as a background for dances and festivals, although many of these are held in the puna desa itself.