History Of Bali Tourism: Eternal Friction Of Customs And Tourism

JAKARTA - Bali is the Island of a million charms. Since the Dutch era, Bali has been attracting tourists from all over the country. The culture, nature and religion of Bali are the main attraction. However, tourism is like double-edged for Bali. One side raises Bali in the world. On the other hand, tourism is destroying Bali. Balinese culture, which was originally sacred, began to compromise commercialism. Even about customs. Investment seems to be a new god.

The narrative of worrying about the destruction of Bali has been around for a long time. The famous painter, José Miguel Covarrubias, is one of them. Covarrubias, who had lived in Bali, saw the Island of the Gods as paradise. The proof of his love for Bali is written in his masterpiece, Island of Bali (1937).

Covarrubias was amazed by everything about Bali, especially the beauty of Balinese girls. Moreover, the girls prefer to be shirtless while carrying out their life activities, such as dancing, making offerings, pounding rice, going to the fields, and also when receiving guests.

That admiration grew even more when Covarrubias became fascinated with Balinese nature, dances, houses, and almost everything. That admiration has resulted in many works.

Not just a portrait of Bali on canvas, Covarrubias also immortalized it in words. However, his admiration for Bali was as great as he was worried about the damage to Bali in the future.

Covarrubias recorded his worry in one sentence: Bali would be damaged if more and more tourists came.

"The current concern is that Bali is experiencing a shift in value. The swift flow of culture from outside, whether Western, Eastern, or non-Balinese Indonesians, hit along with the flow of money brought by tourists. The travelers clearly bring new value. And this is in touch with Balinese customs. It is not surprising that some people, both Balinese and non-Balinese, are always worried that this strong and exotic custom will eventually be eroded too, ”wrote a report from Tempo Magazine entitled Kompromi Budaya, Tourism and Business (1991).

Covarrubias is true. After Indonesia's independence, commercialization in all fields seemed to shake the joints of Balinese culture.

There is a transition, especially in the socio-cultural sector. In the past, Balinese people adhered more to communalistic rituals, turning to be individualistic, economic, democratic and efficient.

This change has touched the results of culture and art. Moreover, it is exacerbated by the many conflicts between customs and tourism. As a result, the limited use of certain places for Balinese ritual events.

Beach, for example. There are also various other disturbances, such as the presence of someone half naked or bathing in the middle of the ceremony.

That sight is very annoying for Balinese people. Not to mention, regarding access to the sea which is often obstructed by the presence of hotels.

During the reign of Soekarno under the banner of the Old Order, Bali had been seen as a mouthpiece for Indonesian tourism. Every effort was made by the government, even urging religious leaders to hold the magnificent Eka Dasa Rudra cleansing ceremony at Besakih Temple in 1963.

The goal is for Bali to be increasingly recognized by the world. In fact, the ceremony should be held every hundred years.

However, the government and religious leaders felt the ceremony was necessary because of the bad economic conditions as a result of the recession in the 1960s. The cleaning ceremony is believed to be able to save, restore the balance of the universe.

But nature has a different will. The Balinese people believe that this is a form of the wrath of the gods (gods).

“The catastrophe of the eruption of Mount Agung, the highest and most sacred mountain in 1963, is widely seen as the result of Soekarno and other secular figures in determining the time and structure of the ceremony. The mythology of the eruption of Mount Agung in the beliefs of the Balinese Hindu community is considered a bad omen of the destruction of the Balinese earth, "added I Ngurah Suryawan in the book Genealogy of Violence and Upheaval Subaltern: Embers in North Bali (2010).

More fully related to the eruption of Mount Agung 1963 we have reviewed in "The Mythological Side of the 1963 Mount Agung Eruption: The Passion of a Believed Belief".

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The dream of increasing tourism has run aground. The extraordinary eruption of Mount Agung was believed to be the end of the world by local residents.

Thousands of people died in the eruption of Mount Agung. At the same time, other problems from the island of Bali emerged.

For example, the problem of pest attacks, crop failure, and the bubonic plague. The new breath of massive tourism in Bali was then echoed again during the transition of government from Orla to Soeharto's New Order.

At that time, the New Order came to try to juxtapose culture and tourism as one unit. As a result, culture has become a kind of symbol of Bali's exoticism.

Meanwhile tourism is a valuable "merchandise" for Bali. Although successful, this situation is very contradictory.

If previously Balinese culture was seen as a heritage that must be preserved, after the arrival of tourists, Balinese culture changed to be considered as a "capital" that must be multiplied.

"This clearly shows how the transformation of cultural political upheaval to form 'tourism' took place in the New Order regime of Bali, with the political heritage of colonial culture creating tourism as the heart of the Balinese economic movement. Through the 'doctrine' of cultural tourism, the New Order succeeded in reinventing Bali into a tourism destination with its cultural 'uniqueness', "added I Ngurah Suryawan.

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French anthropologist Michel Picard said the New Order's separation of religious identity from ethnic identity made Balinese people deprived of their customs. The Balinese are secularized, marginalized and taken over by the state.

Because of this, Balinese customs were deprived of their political authority and religious basis. Inevitably the Balinese face then changed. Just like Soekarno, the wrath of the gods was also present during the New Order era in 1971.

At that time, Bali was rocked by a big scandal. A temple on the edge of Sanur Beach is planned to be demolished by the government.

The demolition was aimed at developing the Bali Beach Hotel. A series of regional apparatus agreed to this.

Another thing with the temple leaders who immediately decided to do the mapinunas ritual, namely asking the gods. As the forms of the gods went berserk, all of the ritual followers were suddenly in a trance and were unconscious.

"Even so, the regent still ordered the demolition of the temple. But then the marker, who was assigned to lead the ceremony to bless the demolition, suddenly limp helplessly. It is said that two days later his wife died. The press intervened and protests sprang up, denouncing the demolition that became a symbol of sacrificing religious values for the tourism dollar. Seeing the harshness of these reactions, the regent's office issued a statement allowing the temple to remain standing, "concluded Michel Picard in the book Bali: Cultural Tourism and Tourism Culture (2006).

* Read other information about HISTORY OF NUSANTARA or read other interesting writings from Detha Arya Tifada.

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