DENPASAR
Denpasar is
a "village-city" with an aristocratic past. Born from
the ashes of the defeated Pemecutan court following the Puputan
massacre of 1906, Denpasar became a sleepy administrative outpost
during Dutch times. Since independence, and especially after it
was made the capital of Bali in 1958, it has been transformed
into a bustling city of some 350,000 souls that provides administrative,
commercial and educational services not only to booming Bali,
but to much of eastern Indonesia as well. Denpasar is the most
dynamic city east of Surabaya, and arguably the richest in the
country - there are more vehicles per capita here than in Jakarta.
New city,
old villages
Originally a
market town - its name literally means "east of the market"
- Denpasar has far outgrown its former boundaries, once defined
by the Pernecutan, Jero Kuta and Satriya palaces and the brahmanical
houses Tegal, Tampak gangsul and Gemeh. Spurred in all directions
by population pressures motorized transport, urban growth is little
enveloping the neighboring villages obliterating the surrounding
rice fields, leaving a new urban landscape in its wake housing estates
in the midst of rice fields in the middle of the city.
To the northeast,
urbanization spills. across the Ayung River into the village Batubulan,
famous for its barong dance where the conservatory of dance has
recently been relocated. To the south, it reaches Sanur and even
to Kuta, while the Bukit it is now subjected to a frenzy of land
speculation. To the northwest, it sprawls as far Kapal, whose beautiful
temple now has to seen above the din and dust of suburban traffic.
This unchecked
growth has swallowed many old villages of the plain, yet in many
ways they remain as they were - their arc architecture focused around
open courtyard they have intact their intricate temples collective
banjars. The power structure its although adapting to new urban
tasks and occupations, has also not changed much. Local satriyas,
be they hotel managers or civil servants, remain princes - they
still have control of land and territorial temples and M mobilize
their "subjects" for ceremonies
Local brahmans
are even more powerful continuing to provide ritual services for
their followers and occupying some of the best positions in the
new Bali. Thus Denpasar is a showcase of Balinese social resiliency
- still "Bali" and worth a visit for its gates, its shrines
and its royal mansions.
But Denpasar
is nevertheless a modern city. Shops, roads and markets have conquered
the wet rice field areas allowed to be leased and sold by village
communities. Here, urbanization has taken on the same features found
elsewhere in Indonesia - rows of gaudily-painted shops in the business
districts; pretty villas along the "protocol" streets;
narrow alleys, small compounds and tiny houses in the residential
areas. more...
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