Tenganan- Bali Aga village: fabled double ikat

Publish Post

beautiful home in Tenganan

As I have previously mentioned the Bali Aga people are descendants of the original people  of Bali.

getting ready for a cremation   

This village is remote and 800 years old.  Strict laws and marrying within the village are the framework for Bali Aga culture.





As we arrived, there was a small tower being built; for a cremation of 30 people to begin on the 22nd.  Many of these "bodies" had been interred for years..... it takes a lot of cash and human capital to do the ceremonial cremation; therefore it can take many years and many families' contributions to have a cremation.

Juntuk (driver and friend), looking at preparations  for cremation

the 3 bell/gongs to alert the village  (800 years old)

guide showing us his  double ikat

detail: combing so that it is tightly woven

As we wandered around the village.... i was very unimpressed.  (with the double ikat) Then we happened upon a young woman and man working in their compound (with their baby sleeping beside them).  We finally found the Real Deal. An artisan whose works revealed her.  It can take many many months.  They grow the cotton (unheard of in Bali), spin it, dye it (natural dyes, morinda and indigo)  dye it many times and Then they Tie both the warp and the weft (vertical and horizontal yarns) to dye it and resist color .....and this is what forms the patterns. She learned from her grandmother.
Very very time consuming.  Very very expensive.  I had not intended to purchase anything.......... but.......... she and her work spoke to me.

the central symbol is the Tenganan motif: scorpion-protection around village (square)

philly outside of a house

the ever- confined- ready- to- be-released for a good Cockfight!

The ever present confined cocks!  Lots of cockfighting in Bali.  Big Big problem. Gambling leading to debt..... debt resolved by selling of ancestral lands (rice fields) Big Big problem.
Land Trust /best use practices can be employed here, utilizing covenants to keep the land in eternal food production; recompensing the farmer for his "development rights".