Back to the Past in Tenganan Village

Bali can be categorized as one of the most developed places in Indonesia. Especially in tourism places. You can find a lot of modern shops that sell international brands, or places to party. But among of this modernization, Bali still has and keep the cultural heritage from the ancestors. If you are curious about how Bali looks like in the past, you can just go to Tenganan Bali Aga Village. Tenganan Bali Aga Village is one of the three traditional villages in Bali, the others are Trunyan Village and Sembiran Village. Tenganan Bali Aga Village is located in Manggis District, Karangasem regency. It takes around 2 hours to reach Tenganan Bali Aga Village from Denpasar.

Tenganan Bali Aga Village is included as Bali Aga Village; Bali Aga Village means the village that still continues and lives with heritage system and rules since hundreds of years ago from the ancestors. Some people believe that Bali Aga is the pure Balinese Tribe, while others are mixed from Javanese. Tenganan Bali Aga Village still lives in the cultural heritage systems, including the design of the houses, the how to choose the head of the village and even the ceremonies. The system in Tenganan Bali Aga Village has been done since the 11th century and got renewed in 1842. The other special thing about Tenganan Bali Aga Village is the souvenirs it has.

Tenganan Bali Aga Village is also well known with its traditional cloths called Pegringsigan, so Tenganan Bali Aga Village also famous with the name Tenganan Pegringsigan. Tenganan Pegringsigan is the traditional clothes that you can only find in Tenganan Village. Tenganan Pegringsigan is kind of Tenun clothes in Indonesia. Tenun is the traditional technique to make clothes with some patterns in Indonesia, and Tenganan Pegringsigan has the only one special technique you will never find in other places in Bali nor Indonesia. It makes Tenganan Pegringsigan becomes well known in worldwide.

The other ancient thing that is famous in Tenganan Bali Aga Village is Perang Pandan or Pandan War. Pandan is a local plantation with small thorns in every side of the leaves. Perang Pandan is one of the attractions that are waited by the tourist when they visit Tenganan Bali Aga Village. As the tourist, you can participate in this Pandan War. Because that pandan leaves have thorns, when you participate in the Pandan War you will get scratches in your body. At the end of the Pandan War in Tenganan Bali Aga Village, you will get the traditional herbs to heal the scratches. If you get bored of the modernization in the cities of Bali and looking for the traditional atmosphere, you can go to Tenganan Bali Aga Village and feel like flying back to the past.