Amid the dominance of tourist accommodation development on the island of Bali, the Tenganan Pegringsingan village remains steadfast with a prohibition on tourist accommodations.
The prohibition of tourist accommodation is a collective agreement by the indigenous community to ban the construction of tourist accommodation in any form and the commercialization of land for tourism.
Upon closer examination, this prohibition is related to the local wisdom values held by the indigenous community and their efforts to preserve their culture and sovereignty.
This uniqueness prompted a UGM team consisting of four students–I Ketut Aditya Prayoga (Tourism 2021), Luh Putu Sintadewi Jayaswari (Psychology 2021), Ida Ayu Purnama Novanka Larasati (Anthropology 2022), and Ni Luh Feby Riveranika (Sociology 2021)–to conduct an in-depth study of the prohibition of tourist accommodation in the Tenganan Pegringsingan Village.
They conducted their research for four months using phenomenology methodology under the title “Prohibition of Tourist Accommodation Based on Cultural Survival in the Tenganan Pegringsingan Indigenous Village to Realize Indigenous Sovereignty.”
Based on the team’s research, I Ketut Aditya Prayoga stated that the Tenganan indigenous community has the prohibition of tourist accommodation as an unwritten rule agreed upon collectively by the indigenous community, based on the values of Tri Hita Karana, or the three harmonious relationships with God, humans, and the environment.
“The values contained in the prohibition are then applied within a cultural sustainability model,” Prayoga explained.
Ida Ayu Novanka Larasati said the cultural sustainability model with the prohibition serves as a guideline to protect the preservation and continuity of the elements of the indigenous culture in the Tenganan Pegringsingan Village.
“It is like a wheel, where the prohibition on tourist accommodation is part of the axis to ensure the wheel can continue turning despite the unstable and changing road conditions. In the long term, this prohibition also protects the indigenous community’s sovereignty,” she elaborated.
Ni Luh Feby Riveranika mentioned that the Tenganan Indigenous Village’s prohibition of tourist accommodation expresses the community’s sovereignty in determining its destiny and managing its resources.
This is in line with the deep-rooted tradition of the indigenous community, which places great importance on preserving traditional wisdom values and thus plays a role in resisting the hegemony of modern development.
Author: Gusti Grehenson