Eruption Of Mount Agung Threatening Bali's Seiisi In Today's History, March 17, 1963

JAKARTA History today, 60 years ago, March 17, 1963, Mount Agung erupted with great magnitude. The entire island of Bali is threatened. The victims who died reached thousands of people. Even those who survived had to bear nestapa. Failed harvest, hunger, and had to take permanent refuge.

Mount Agung has an important meaning for Balinese. The mountain is considered a sacred mountain. The source of life of Balinese people. Because, the existence of Mount Agung is able to provide fertility for its surroundings.

Mount Agung has a charm that is second to none. The mountain is not only the attraction of tourism, but also has an important meaning for all Balinese. All because of the actions of the life of the Balinese who are oriented to the mountains, compared to the sea.

Mount is considered the most important part of the universe of Balinese people's lives. Like a protector and a blessing. Mount Agung is hailed as the origin of the soil around the slopes of the fertile mountain. The soil is suitable for farming which incidentally is one of the professions that many Balinese residents carried during the Old Order era.

This greatness is also supported by the assumption that Mount Agung is an important element in the circumcision of Hinduism. Mount Agung is referred to as a place for the gods to reside. Alias, the palace of the gods. Then Mount Agung was considered sacred by the residents.

He can bring good news, as well as bad news. Therefore, all Balinese residents maintain the existence of Mount Agung. Moreover, Besakih Temple is presented around the slopes of Mount as a sign of the sacredness of Mount Agung.

This may be considered a result of the unfriendly seaside of the Indian Ocean surrounded by dangerous corals and the brunt of its violent ocean currents, which make shipping difficult but also useful to protect residents from foreign attacks.

"However, the much more important reason is that Bali's social space is governed by a hierarchically ordered vang cosmos, based on complementary conflict between the top world (stealth) of the direction of the mountain and in particular Mount Agung as a holy mountain, source of fertility and life, the burial of dewaciated gods and ancestors and the world of one sea (kelod), where demons, are characterized by diseases and deadly things," said Michel Picard in the book Bali: Tourism Culture and Tourism Culture (2006).

However, the beauty of Mount Agung turned scary on March 17, 1963. At that time, Mount Agung erupted. The eruption was complete. The eruption left thousands of people dead, thousands of houses destroyed, and 225 thousand survivors lost their livelihoods, and hundreds of thousands more permanently displaced.

The disaster worsened by making farmers fail to harvest, hunger, and estuary the presence of disease outbreaks. The eruption of Mount Agung made all Balinese people miserable. Moreover, life at that time began to feel very difficult because of the presence of the 1960s economic recession.

Agung Monument on the island of Bali erupted preceded by extraordinary activities. This national natural disaster has caused thousands of casualties and enormous people's property. Assistance has been provided not only from the government, but also from other Indonesian people, but also from all over the world.

The eruption of Mount Agung, which is 3,142 meters high this year, is the fourth time. Prior to that, the eruptions had occurred in 1611, 1843, and 1917", wrote the Information Mid-Fitr Magazine report (1963).