Local Culture
About the Local Community where Taman Petanu is located
A brief introduction to Balinese Banjar & Subak
The Banjar is responsible for all things related to inhabited land, while the Subak is responsible for agricultural land and natural resources.
All Balinese married couples are Banjar members who share communal responsibilities for temple maintenance, ceremonies, community funds and offerings. Community decisions are unanimous made by the assembly of the Banjar's male members (Sangkep), at Krama Banjar meetings, usually each 35 days. There are two Banjar leaders (Kelian Banjar) the Kelian Dinas, in charge of administrative issues, and the Kelian Adat, who looks after customs and spiritual issues in cooperation with the Bendesa Adat. Kelian Banjar are elected and also traditionally approved by gods via a medium.
About the history of the area
The two kingdoms of Peliatan & Batuan formed the community and the area used to be a deep forest called ‘Alas Segana’.The ‘Tukad Petanu’, the river on which the neighborhood sits is the origin of Galungan. Click here to read more about this fascinating legend.
Taman Petanu is a member of the following local communities
Currently community governance of the area includes
Subak Pengiyangan - regulates agriculture activities, as well as the ‘Pura Subak’ - agriculture temple
Banjar Dinas Sumampan - regulates social activities, oversees the Hansip & Pecalang, who are responsible for local security and safety
Banjar Adat Sumampan - regulates community spiritual and cultural activities
Desa Pekraman Sumampan - regulates the activities of the Subak, Banjar Dinas and Banjar Adat, Provides authorization for licenses and permits
Desa Kemenuh - regulates all of the Desa Pekraman in the Kemenuh area (6 Desa Adat, that contain 11 Banjar Dinas)
Click below to watch a short fil clip with a message from the previous
owners of the land as they entrust stewardship on to Taman Petanu.
Local community’s aspirations for the Taman Petanu development include:
Economic development and employment
Cultural integrity and community empowerment
Environmental protection
Learning about, sharing together
Key challenges that the community is facing include:
Limited local employment – many of the youth leave the community to work on cruise ships
Waste management – currently looking at solutions for shutting down the dumping ground
Modernization and development – they see many areas of Bali overwhelmed by development, and want a better, solution here.
Many people feel that farming is un-viable economically and “poor man’s work”, and the local community leaders hope to change the perception and learn about solutions…