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Last visit, W. confided to me that his spiritual experience was much less deep and less impressive in an easily reachable crowded temple and much more impressive and moving in a hard-to-reach temple with only few people. I absolutely believe him.
Some temples in Bali are overflown with tourists, busload after busload. They don't come to feel the spirituality of the place, they babble and giggle and stare at the hindu-believers like visitors at a zoo staring at the animals. It's a horrible experience for me, and I feel ashamed for them.
And then money comes in. Balinese Hindus know that a lot of tourists come to Bali just because of the fact that it's a Hindu island surrounded by Muslim mainland. Tourism is a very important source of income for Bali. Banning the tourists from all Hindu temples is financially not a good idea.
So, when I read this evening about efforts to keep at least the inner sanctorum of the temples tourist-free, I can only applaud this idea. The article is from 2013, but already in many temples in Bali (1), the jeroan are not accessible by tourists. I totally agree.
Hindu alliance supports move to limit tourist access to temples
Youths grouped under the Hindu Alliance Caring for Bali (Aliansi Hindu Peduli Bali) declared their support for the plan to limit tourist access to temples throughout Bali. The statement was conveyed by the group at the Bali Legislative Council office on Thursday.
“We understand that temples have been part of the tourist attraction for years. To keep the sanctity of temples on the island, we demanded a firm policy to limit access to temples for tourists. We demand a policy to prohibit tourists entering the utama mandala, the main part of temple,” I Ketut Bagus Arjana Wira Putra, chairman of the alliance, said.
Hindu temples are architecturally and philosophically divided into three zones — the jeroan or utama mandala (the inner and most sacred part of the temple), jaba tengah (the middle section) and jaba luar (temple yard).
The alliance, consisting of several groups and NGOs, such as Puskor Hindu Indonesia, the Hindu student forum of Udayana University, and others, declared that they fully supported the central government’s plan for the development of national strategic tourism zones (KSPN). However, they demanded the program was not implemented at temples.
“We are wondering why the program has been planned for implementation in an area around a sacred temple? Basically, we do not reject the KSPN program for Bali. But we strongly demand the program does not include sacred temples,” Ida Bagus Sujana, member of the alliance from Puskor Indonesia, said.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has included 11 areas in Bali as KSPN, including Besakih and Mt. Agung in Karangasem; Kintamani and Lake Batur in Bangli; Pemuteran and the Menjangan islands in Buleleng; as well as Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua resort areas. The 11 KSPN in Bali are part of 88 KSPN throughout Indonesia.
The issue to include Besakih became a hot topic in the island’s mass media, especially in Bali Post, which used the issue to portray Made Mangku Pastika as a governor willing to sell the temple to tourism investors, despite the fact the KSPN is an initiative designed and launched by the central government in Jakarta.
Believed to have been built in prehistoric times, Besakih is the mother temple and largest and most holy worship place for Balinese Hindus. It was built 1,000 meters up the slope of Mt. Agung, a mountain deemed holy by the Balinese.
Amid the strong rejection, Pastika has also proposed that all temples on the island be excluded as tourist destinations to limit, or even prevent, tourists visiting these places of worship. Pastika also proposed canceling all the KSPN on the island.
However, Pastika’s decision was criticized by the alliance, which said that his decision showed bad leadership. “He [Pastika] should not say that. We should conduct a study first to get the best solution,” Sujana said.
I Kadek Maryana from the Hindu student forum of Udayana University said that the group agreed to temples still being tourist attractions. “As long as we don’t allow tourists to enter the jeroan, I think it is alright,” he said.
Nyoman Parta, head of Commission I of the Bali Legislative Council, said that the council would invite all the Hindu and Balinese community to discuss the KSPN plan soon. He requested the public not to make assumptions about the plan. “The KSPN program is aimed at managing the destination. We assure you it will not damage the sacredness. You should not too worry about the plan,” Parta said.
“We understand that temples have been part of the tourist attraction for years. To keep the sanctity of temples on the island, we demanded a firm policy to limit access to temples for tourists. We demand a policy to prohibit tourists entering the utama mandala, the main part of temple,” I Ketut Bagus Arjana Wira Putra, chairman of the alliance, said.
Hindu temples are architecturally and philosophically divided into three zones — the jeroan or utama mandala (the inner and most sacred part of the temple), jaba tengah (the middle section) and jaba luar (temple yard).
The alliance, consisting of several groups and NGOs, such as Puskor Hindu Indonesia, the Hindu student forum of Udayana University, and others, declared that they fully supported the central government’s plan for the development of national strategic tourism zones (KSPN). However, they demanded the program was not implemented at temples.
“We are wondering why the program has been planned for implementation in an area around a sacred temple? Basically, we do not reject the KSPN program for Bali. But we strongly demand the program does not include sacred temples,” Ida Bagus Sujana, member of the alliance from Puskor Indonesia, said.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has included 11 areas in Bali as KSPN, including Besakih and Mt. Agung in Karangasem; Kintamani and Lake Batur in Bangli; Pemuteran and the Menjangan islands in Buleleng; as well as Sanur, Kuta and Nusa Dua resort areas. The 11 KSPN in Bali are part of 88 KSPN throughout Indonesia.
The issue to include Besakih became a hot topic in the island’s mass media, especially in Bali Post, which used the issue to portray Made Mangku Pastika as a governor willing to sell the temple to tourism investors, despite the fact the KSPN is an initiative designed and launched by the central government in Jakarta.
Believed to have been built in prehistoric times, Besakih is the mother temple and largest and most holy worship place for Balinese Hindus. It was built 1,000 meters up the slope of Mt. Agung, a mountain deemed holy by the Balinese.
Amid the strong rejection, Pastika has also proposed that all temples on the island be excluded as tourist destinations to limit, or even prevent, tourists visiting these places of worship. Pastika also proposed canceling all the KSPN on the island.
However, Pastika’s decision was criticized by the alliance, which said that his decision showed bad leadership. “He [Pastika] should not say that. We should conduct a study first to get the best solution,” Sujana said.
I Kadek Maryana from the Hindu student forum of Udayana University said that the group agreed to temples still being tourist attractions. “As long as we don’t allow tourists to enter the jeroan, I think it is alright,” he said.
Nyoman Parta, head of Commission I of the Bali Legislative Council, said that the council would invite all the Hindu and Balinese community to discuss the KSPN plan soon. He requested the public not to make assumptions about the plan. “The KSPN program is aimed at managing the destination. We assure you it will not damage the sacredness. You should not too worry about the plan,” Parta said.
(1) The Sad Kahyangan, Sad Kahyangan Jagad or the "six temples of the world" are the six supremely holy temples in Bali. According to Balinese beliefs, they are the pivotal points of the island. They are:
- Pura Besakih in Karangasem, the "mother temple" of Bali,
- Pura Lempuyang Luhur in Karangasem,
- Pura Goa Lawah in Klungkung,
- Pura Luhur Uluwatu in Badung,
- Pura Batukaru in Tabanan, and
- Pura Pusering Jagat (Pura Puser Tasik) in Gianyar.
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