- Location: Indonesia, Fr. Bali, Bangli County
On the island of Bali in Indonesia is the traditional village of Penglipuran. Its literal wording is translated as "remembering your ancestors". Now this village looks like, apparently, looked like a hundred or even two hundred years ago. And Penglipuran is considered one of the cleanest villages in the world.
What is interesting about Penglipuran?
The whole village is divided into three zones:
- "Head", or parahyangan. This is the northern part of the village, which is considered the most sacred. According to the local, this is the "place of the gods". Here is the temple of Penataran Temple, in which all important ceremonies are held.
- "Body", or pawongan. Going down the stairs from the temple , you get to the center of the village. Here there are 76 houses of local residents. For 38 of them are located on both sides of the wide road that separates the village. The main inhabitants are artists and farmers. Many craftsmen make different souvenirs for sale: rattles and flutes, pipes and sarongs, wicker baskets and other crafts.
- "Legs", or palemahan. In the southern part of the village there is a cemetery - "the place of the dead". One of the features of Penglipuran is that the dead residents are not cremated here, but are buried.
Architecture
An unusual kind of houses strikes everyone who visits the cozy and well-groomed Penglipuran:
- All houses have the same entrance gate size of 2.5 m, covered with bamboo;
- the color of buildings should be only natural, most often it is brown;
- The roofs are covered with bamboo tiles or palm leaves;
- on each building there is a plaque from which you can find out how many women and men live here;
- houses are oriented to Mount Agung , which is considered sacred here.
Customs in the village of Penglipuran
Local people are friendly and always ready to show how they live:
- Striking hospitality. Tourists can visit any house in this unusual village and watch the life of its owners. The gates of houses are never closed. Many yards are decorated with flowers in pots, and the guest can buy them if desired.
- Culture . Local residents say that they take care of the environment from childhood. For example, no one here throws rubbish past the urn, and they smoke only in specially designated places.
- Cleanliness. Every month, all women living in Penglipuran gather to sort the collected garbage: organic - for fertilizers, and plastic and other waste - for further processing.
- Traditional Balinese farmstead. It consists of several buildings. It houses for different generations of the same family, a separate common kitchen, various farm buildings, All buildings are made only of natural materials. There is no gas here, and the food is cooked on wood. There is a ceremonial gazebo and a family temple with an altar on the territory of the estate.
- Earth. Each inhabitant of the village of Penglipuran is allocated for use a certain amount of land:
- for the construction of a house - 8 acres (about 3 hectares),
- for agriculture - 40 acres (16 hectares);
- bamboo forest - 70 acres (28 hectares)
- rice fields - 25 acres (10 ha)
All this land can not be given to anyone or sold without the consent of all the villagers. Cutting bamboo in the forest is also forbidden, without the permission of a local priest.
How to get to Penglipuran?
The easiest way to get to the village is from the nearby city of Bangli. In a taxi or a rented car, the road takes about 25-30 minutes.