Terunyan Village

Terunyan Village, home of the original Balinese

Located on the eastern shore of Lake Batur. Terunyan is the only place within the crater that has been spared from eruptions of the volcano, as the lava flows have been kept away from the water. Terunyan is easily accessible by private vehicle. Every visitor is warmly welcomed, and guided tours to the cemetery and Temple are offered affordably.

But how did it stay original to this day?

For the Trunyan Bali Aga people, the term Bali Aga (Mountain Balinese) is regarded as an insult with an additional meaning of “the mountain people that are fools”; therefore, they prefer the term Bali Mula (Original Balinese) instead. The inhabitants have successfully resisted Bali’s Hindu culture in customs and beliefs to this day and have lived in seclusion in this settlement since before the Javanese invasion in 1343.

The Temple houses Bali’s most giant statue, an approximately 3.5 m high representation of the Bali Aga God, Dewa Ratu Pancering Jagat. On a particular day, the statue undergoes cleansing and is repainted with a mixture of water, lime and honey. This ritual may only be performed by a hitherto untouched boy (truna) and is accompanied by various ceremonies.

Funeral ceremonies in Terunyan

Terunyan’s death ceremonies consist of two parts:

The first is held in the deceased’s house and in the cemetery. A body is not kept in the place for more than a day and a night.

If he or she died a natural death and is an ordinary member of the village, the newly dead is stripped of all clothing, jewellery, and even gold fillings for his teeth. The corpse is covered with a new batik sarong and waits for the male relatives to arrive and wash it.

The dead are only treated by men, even if they are female deceased.

The teeth are cleaned with a kind of baking powder, then ruby is placed in the dead body’s mouth because it is believed to protect the body from decomposition. 20 rolled betel leaves, threaded through the square holes of old Chinese coins, are placed between the fingers and toes of the dead.

The hands tied together with a cotton string cover parts of the joints. Then the hair is rubbed with coconut oil, and the body is sprinkled with holy water. A balm called ampok is rubbed on the belly, then the body is rolled into a tree-bush mat, and a member of the traditional community council recites a poem. The body is carried in a bamboo stretcher to the cemetery. There, they wait until the ritual purchase of space by older relatives has been completed.

Payment is made with old Chinese coins.

The dead body is brought to the cemetery, and a second ritual washing is performed. The ruby is taken out of the corpse’s mouth so that the body can decompose and the soul is released. Immediately after this ceremony, the body is positioned correctly: the feet towards the lake (kelod) and the head towards Mount Agung (kaja). A batik cloth covers the body from the neck to the feet.

The head and hips are wrapped with towels. Some rice cakes are placed on the stomach, and some Indonesia Rupiah notes are under the corpse.

All people present murmur words of farewell, then the carcass is covered with a bamboo mat. This concludes the ceremony, and everyone returns to their homes. Within two to three weeks, only the skeleton remains. The process of decomposition in the air is much faster than in the ground.

For the second part of the ceremony, a large tower is built out of bamboo and coloured paper, with miniature sandalwood dolls representing the dead. A procession is held with the tower, at the end of which the structure is sunk into Lake Batur near the cemetery. This part finally frees the deceased from his previous existence.