BATUR: THE MOUNT, LAKE, AND TEMPLE’S SANCTITY, SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY, AND THE TOURISM BUSINESS

Abstract

Batur region in Kintamani Subdistrict, Bangli, Bali, is at first a living place of a group of local people with holy, sacred markers characterized by Hinduism. The most popular holy markers are Mount Batur (1717 m), Lake Batur, and Pura (Temple) Ulun Danu Batur. Later Batur is known as a tourist destination where many tourists both domestic and international come and go everyday. This paper describes the existence of the Batur region as a unity of three things: sanctity or holiness (sacred area), social relations of the local community, and tourism business. This study is qualitative which its data is taken from books, journals, and other documents with the techniques of qualitative data analysis.

The result of the study shows there is a high complexity in Batur due to its position as a sanctuary (holy area), a place of community life, and a tourism area. Batur is a sacred area, at least because of the Mount Batur, Lake Batur, and Ulun Danu Batur Temple so that such a region is honoured by all Hindu believers in Bali and outside Bali. However, today, Batur is also known as a popular tourist area because the mount, the lake, and the temple are really very interesting to be enjoyed (or consumed as tourism products) and in fact, the region is also surrounded by other beautiful tourist attractions in Batur and Kintamani, i.e. Penelokan, Toyabungkah, Trunyan village, agricultural fields, and a new, man-made one that is the Batur Global Geopark.

Full text

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
33
BATUR: THE MOUNT, LAKE, AND TEMPLE’S SANCTITY,
SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY, AND THE TOURISM BUSINESS
I Gede Mudana1, I Ketut Sutama2, Cokorda Istri Sri Widhari3
123Department of Tourism, Politeknik Negeri Bali
email: 1gedemudana@pnb.ac.id,2tomsutama@gmail.com,3widhari@yahoo.co.id.
ABSTRACT
Batur region in Kintamani Subdistrict, Bangli, Bali, is at first a living place of a group
of local people with holy, sacred markers characterized by Hinduism. The most popular holy
markers are Mount Batur (1717 m), Lake Batur, and Pura (Temple) Ulun Danu Batur. Later
Batur is known as a tourist destination where many tourists both domestic and international
come and go everyday. This paper describes the existence of the Batur region as a unity of
three things: sanctity or holiness (sacred area), social relations of the local community, and
tourism business. This study is qualitative which its data is taken from books, journals, and
other documents with the techniques of qualitative data analysis.
The result of the study shows there is a high complexity in Batur due to its position
as a sanctuary (holy area), a place of community life, and a tourism area. Batur is a sacred
area, at least because of the Mount Batur, Lake Batur, and Ulun Danu Batur Temple so that
such a region is honoured by all Hindu believers in Bali and outside Bali. However, today,
Batur is also known as a popular tourist area because the mount, the lake, and the temple
are really very interesting to be enjoyed (or consumed as tourism products) and in fact, the
region is also surrounded by other beautiful tourist attractions in Batur and Kintamani, i.e.
Penelokan, Toyabungkah, Trunyan village, agricultural fields, and a new, man-made one that
is the Batur Global Geopark.
Keywords: mountains, lake, temple, sanctity, social relations, local community, tourist.
INTRODUCTION
Batur is located in Kintamani sub-district, Bangli regency, Bali province. It is a name
of sacred, holy (sanctity) area where one unit of the local social system lives. Even the area
is not only considered sacred by the local community around Batur and Kintamani but also
by the Hindu-Balinese society in general. At least in Batur there are Mount Batur (1717 m),
Lake Batur, and Ulun Danu Batur Temple as well which are all holy mountain, holy lake, and
holy temple. Later Batur has been intensively affected by tourism industrialization.
Beside the mountain, the lake, and the temple, there are other tourist attractions,
such as Penelokan, agrotourism, Toya Bungkah, Trunyan Village, and Geopark Global
UNESCO Batur (from the English name Batur UNESCO Global Geopark) or abbreviated as
Batur Geopark (Museum). It very often happens that those who at first only intend to climb

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
34
(doing trekking tour to) Mount Batur, for instance, suddenly have a kind impulsive buying so
they finally make a decission to enjoy Lake Batur, Ulun Danu Batur Temple, Batur Geopark,
Penelokan Kintamani, and other surrounding tourism products.
As its title suggests, this paper is designed to deal with a discourse of the fact that
Batur is a complex place. It is because Batur is a unity among three things; they are sanctity,
social relations of the local society, and tourism business arena functioning the local
nature/environment. Sanctity is related to the divine aspect or the God; social relationships
related to human issues; and mountain, lake, temple, landscapes and cultural entities which
are used as tourism products in Batur related to the nature and environment.
RESEARCH METHODS
This research was conducted in Kintamani tourism area which was first introduced
globally by a German writer named Gregor Krause who had lived there. In 1912 he promoted
Kintamani which has Mount Batur, Lake Batur, Ulun Danu Batur Temple, and Penelokan.
Since then Kintamani has been visited by many foreign tourists especially those from
Germany. After that it stood Pelni hotel in 1922 and even two hotels in the 1930's which one
of them was KPM Kintamani Hotel in Kintamani field now. The location of the other one had
not been known yet because it was burned and destroyed when Mount Batur and Mount
Agung were erupted (Widiastini, 2016; https://unud.ac.id/posts/ary-widiastini-pedagang-
acung-sebagai-basis-ekonomi-keluarga-di-desa-batur-tengah-kawasan-pariwisata-
kintamani-bali).
This literature study is a cultural studies with a qualitative approach. The data sought
is qualitative, supported by few quantitative data. The technique used is a qualitative analysis
technique which according to Miles and Hubberman (1992: 14-19) consists of data reduction,
data presentation, and conclusion.
DISCUSSION
Kintamani located in the highlands in the north-east of Bali is one of the four sub-
districts in Bangli Regency, Bali Province, with an area of 366.92 km2 and includes 48 villages
(Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Bangli, 2017). Kintamani is a fertile agricultural area and
plantation. The district's caldera region is a farming center for several agricultural
commodities, such as coffee, oranges, vegetables, and red onions, which are distributed
throughout Bali and outside Bali. "Kintamani coffee", "Kintamani orange", and even

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
35
"Kintamani dog" have their own brand in the images of global people. In fact, compared to
be as a formal, administrative district, Kintamani is much known as a popular tourist
destination or even the most popular destination in Bangli Regency (Widiastini and Mudana,
2016 (https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/article/view/25272).
Kintamani as a popular tourist destination was first known than Batur eventhough
the centre of tourism in Kintamani is Batur itself. Being very popular, Kintamani was ever used
as a theme of a movie in the 1970s titled "Kabut di Kintamani" (Fog in Kintamani) and then in
1990s there was a beautiful song "Nyanyian Rindu" (Song of Longing) from the legendary
Indonesian musician Ebiet G Ade which its lyrics contain poetical words "... sejuk lembut
angin di Bukit Kintamani…” (cool, soft wind in Kintamani Hill... ".) Anyhow, today, Kintamani
is as popular as Batur. Even the two words (“Kintamani” and “Batur”) are almost synonimous,
moreover the later (Batur) has now a new tourist attraction, i.e. the global geopark.
Like Mount Agung (1,342 m) which is the highest mountain in Bali, Mount Batur is a
sacred mountain (Mudana, I Gede, Sutama, I Ketut; Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri 2017,
https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/article/view/33150; Mudana, I Gede; Sutama, I Ketut;
Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri 2017a, https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/kajianbali/article/
view/35152; Mudana , I Gede, Sutama, I Ketut, Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri 2017b,
http://ojs.pnb.ac.id/index.php/SOSHUM/article/view/717). In Bali, not only Mount Batur, other
mountains, as well as all high places in general, are sacred areas. If Mount Agung is
positioned as lingga or purusa (male), Mount Batur is yoni or pradana (female) and if Mount
Batur is a phallus or purusa (male), Lake Batur is yoni or pradana (female) (Sumarta, 2015).
Mount Batur can be said to represent fire while Lake Batur water. The synergy between men
and women or between fire and water is the source of life and prosperity of the local society
(Absir, 2015).
Mount Batur is surrounded by a number of temples. Besides Ulun Danu Batur
Temple, there is a temple called Jati Temple which is the main starting point for climbing to
Mount Batur. According to Sad Winayaka conception, a temple is always established to
motivate the spiritual existence. The aim is to improve the moral nobility and mental
endurance of the community in building natural circumstances (bhuwana
agung/macrocosmos) and the human ones (bhuwana alit/microcosmos). It was found many
lontar (papyrus) which mentions Sad Kahyangan temple is a manifestation of the
development of togetherness with the Sad Winayaka conception (Wiana, 2018). Sad means
six; kahyangan is great, main temple. In relation to the two words, there is kertih which means

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
36
religious ritual practice. Sad Kahyangan includes major temples in Bali, namely Besakih
Temple, Lempuyang Temple, Goa Lawah Temple, Luhur Uluwatu Temple, Batur Temple,
and Pusering Jagat Temple. Sad Kertih consists of atma kertih (religious ritual practice
relating to the soul or paramatma of every bhuwana alit or living creature), samudra kertih
(religious ritual practice relating to the sea), wana kertih (religious ritual practice relating to
the forest), danu kertih (religious ritual practice relating to the water, including lake), jagat
kertih (religious ritual practice relating to the social life of community), and jana kertih
(religious ritual practice relating to individuals). In this case, the mountain (Mount Batur) is
linked to the wana kertih and the lake (Lake Batur) to the danu kertih.
In Bali there is also Padma Bhuwana conception as a foundation to build Padma
Bhuwana temple in nine directions in Bali. The nine directions are eight directions (northeast,
east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and north) plus one in the centre. In the
northeast there is Besakih Temple (Karangasem Regency); in the east Lempuyang Luhur
Temple (Karangasem Regency); in the southeast Goa Lawah Temple (Klungkung Regency);
in the south Andakasa Temple (Kabupaten Karangasem Regency); in the southwest
Watukaru Temple (Tabanan Regency); in the northwest Puncak Mangu Temple (Badung
Regency); in the north Batur Temple; and in the middle (centre) Pusering Jagat temple
(Gianyar Regency) (Wiana, 2018).
Mount Batur is a very good site for climbing/trekking tourists, both actual and
potential ones. There are at least 300 tourists enjoy the beauty of Mount Batur everyday.
There are hundreds of tourists enjoying the beauty of Lake Batur evryday. An average of 90
visitors visit an educational tour at the museum (Batur Geopark) everyday. All the amounts
do not include a lot of tourists who visit Penelokan with its scenic beauty, Toya Bungkah which
has natural hot water recreation area, Trunyan Village with its unique culture in cremation
ritual, agro-tourism in Kintamani with its commodities, such as coffee, orange, and red onion.
Thus, the Kintamani community, especially the Batur community, enjoy the activities
of the tourism industrialization in the area today. This means that, in addition to being farmers,
quite a lot of the Batur (and Kintamani) community members are involved in tourism services,
such as climbing/trekking guides and general tour guides, hotel and restaurant workers, and
other tourism industry workers, including pedagang acung (vendoring merchants).
Climbing/trekking guides in Mount Batur are about 100 people. In Kabupaten Bangli dalam
Angka 2017 (2017), there are 18 non-star hotels, 214 rooms, 297 beds, and 169 workers
(non-star hotel) in Kintamani sub-district. Widiastini (2016; (https://unud.ac.id/posts/ary-

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
37
widiastini-pedagang-acung-sebagai-basis-ekonomi-keluarga-di-desa-batur-tengah-
kawasan-pariwisata-kintamani-bali) shows, in 2015, there were 168 pedagang acung who
operated in Kintamani area.
Here, the relationships among sanctity, residential area for social life, and tourism
business are theoretically connected with trihita karana paradigm (tri = three, hita = balanced
material-spiritual happiness, karana = cause), a local knowledge which can now can be said
to be the Balinese culture itself. Trihita karana (Kaler, 1989) concerns with (1) the
relationships between man and God the Creator, (2) the relationship between man and other
man, and (3) the relationship between man and nature environment. The first relationship is
called parhyangan; the second pawongan; the last palemahan. So that, the shrine area in
Batur is a parhyangan. The residential area of the local population where the social activities
operate is pawongan. Tourism business areas that function the physical area of Batur and
Kintamani (the mountain, the lake, the temple, the geopark, etc) is palemahan.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
At this time Batur is known as a popular tourist area because, in addition to Mount
Batur, Lake Batur, and Ulun Danu Batur Temple, there are also some other interesting tourist
attractions, such as Penelokan (for sight-seeing), Toyabungkah (hot water recreation),
Trunyan village area (a unique cremation process toward the dead body), and the new tourist
attraction that is a man-made one, i.e. the Batur Geopark Museum.
Batur is an increasingly complex area. If at first Batur is only a place of life for a group
of people with the rules and boundaries of its sanctity but now partly transformed into a
modern tourist area. In the trihita karana, holiness or sacradness in Batur region is related to
divinity aspect or parhyangan. Social relations of the local community are related to
pawongan. Tourism business that utilizes mountain, lake, and natural scenery is associated
with nature and environment or palemahan.
In this case, it is suggested that all parties must involve in a more intensive way, both
government, the tourism industry, and the local society maintaining the equilibrium between
the two worlds: worldly (economic materiality) and divinity (spirituality) or sekala and niskala.
In a developing country like Indonesia, the role of structure, in this case the governments (the
state) and the related industry (tourism), is important because the community is very often
just a hegemonic victim of the relationship between the state and the economic capital of the
tourism industry.

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
38
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
On this occasion, the authors thank the E-Journal of Cultural Studies very much for
publishing this paper. Of course the authors are also grateful to the various parties who have
supported this study.
REFERENCES
Absir, I Wayan. 2015. “Menjadikan Batur the Nirwana of Bali” in I Ketut Sumarta, Batur
Jantung Peradaban Air Bali. Denpasar: Wisnu Press, p. 111-141.
Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Bangli. 2017. Kabupaten Bangli dalam Angka 2016. Bangli:
BPS Kabupaten Bangli.
Kaler, I Gusti Ketut. 1983. Butir-butir Tercecer tentang Adat Bali 2. Denpasar: Bali Agung.
Miles, Matthew B. dan Michael A. Huberman. 1992. Analisis Data Kualitatif. Jakarta: UII
Press.
Mudana, I Gede; Sutama, I Ketut; Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri. 2017. “Entrepreneural Figure of
Mount Agung Trekking Guides”. E-Journal of Cultural Studies, [S.l.], p. 1-7. ISSN
2338-2449. Available at: <https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/article/view/33150>.
Date accessed: 02 june 2018.
Mudana, I Gede; Sutama, I Ketut; Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri. 2017a. “Kepeloporan
Kewirausahaan Memandu Pendakian Daya Tarik Wisata Gunung Agung,
Karangasem, Bali”. Journal of Bali Studies, [S.l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 19-38. ISSN 2580-
0698. Available at: <https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/kajianbali/article/view/35152>.
Date accessed: 02 june 2018.
Mudana, I Gede; Sutama, I Ketut; Widhari, Cokorda Istri Sri. 2017b. “Model Kewirausahaan
Memandu Wisata Mendaki Gunung Agung di Desa Selat, Karangasem”. Soshum :
Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora, [S.l.], v. 7, n. 3, p. 324-333. ISSN 2580-5622. Available
at: <http://ojs.pnb.ac.id/index.php/SOSHUM/article/view/717>. Date accessed: 02
june 2018.
Sumarta, I Ketut. 2015. Batur Jantung Peradaban Air Bali. Denpasar: Wisnu Press.
Wiana, I Ketut. 2018. “Implementasi Filosofi dan Konsepsi Pembangunan Bali (Bagian VII,
Rubrik Wija Kasaur): Empat Fungsi Kebersamaan Universal”, Pos Bali, Sunday, 20
May, p. 1.
Widiastini, Ni Made Ary. 2016. “Pedagang Acung sebagai Basis Ekonomi Keluarga di Desa
Batur Tengah, Kawasan Pariwisata Kintamani, Bangli”, dissertation, Program
Doktor, Program Studi Kajian Budaya, Program Pascasarjana, Universitas

E-Journal of Cultural Studies August 2018 Vol. 11, Number 3, Page 33-39
DOAJ Indexed (Since 14 Sep 2015)
ISSN 2338-2449 https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/
39
Udayana, Denpasar (https://unud.ac.id/posts/ary-widiastini-pedagang-acung-
sebagai-basis-ekonomi-keluarga-di-desa-batur-tengah-kawasan-pariwisata-
kintamani-bali). Date accessed: 15 june 2018.
Widiastini, Ni Made Ary; Mudana, I Gede. 2016. “Social Practice of Pedagang Acung
(Vendors) at Kintamani Tourist Area, Bangli, Bali”. E-Journal of Cultural Studies,
[S.l.], p. 1-11, may 2016. ISSN 2338-2449. Available at:
https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ecs/article/view/25272. Date accessed: 07 june
2018.