Location
Kintamani is a small town located on the west rim of Batur crater which
length is around 3 km starting from the village of Panelokan to the border
of north Kintamani with Panulisan area. Kintamani town itself is 57 km from
Denpasar city, 65 kms from Kuta, 80 km from Nusa Dua area. So far what is
known as Kintamani is actually consist of 3 villages these are Panelokan,
Batur, and Kintmani. Sightseeing tour to Kintamani will stop at Panelokan,
the southernmost of west crater rim. There are many restaurant on the right
and left sides of the road starting from Panelokan northward up to the southern
part of Kintmani town. Tour program do not stop at Kintamani town, as it
is only a town with usual market. From Panelokan downward across lake Batur
is the old village of Trunyan which is known for it's unique burial tradition.
Kintamani and its' surrounding such as various villages both below on the
bank of the lake such as Kedisan, Trunyan, Songan, and at the Northern part
such as Bayung, Balingkang, and to the far west such as Blantih are already
exist since AD 900. Many Balinese king charters mentioned the villages and
the obligations of its' people. But Kintamani 1100 years ago was named Cintamani,
and Songan called Air Tabar. This is especially the village of Trunyan mentioned
in many inscription to have been maintaining a temple and symbol called
Bhatara Da Tonta, and the fact that Bhatara Da Tonta can still be seen at
the temple belong to Trunyan village, a wooden simple statue preserved in
a small pavilion, can not be seen everyday, except during the temple ceremony.
Interest of Kintamani
As already mentioned above that the the name of Kintamani is often refer
places such as Panelokan, villages around Batur lake, and Kintamani town
itself. The crater of Batur is the central interest of the place which is
estimated to have 13 square km size. The main interest of this area is the
beautiful panorama of nature. In Indonesia there are only 2 places claimed
to have the most beautiful vista. One is here in Kintamani dan second is
Lake Toba in North Sumatra with it's island in the lake called Samosir island.
Panelokan
Penelokan is a vantage point at the southernmost of the crater rim. There
is no traditional village on this area, but it was the people from Batur
and Kintamani started to build small restaurants and art shop during 1970s
to offer the visitors with tour break for snack or lunches. Later big restaurant
and hotels were also constructed on the area including many souvenir shops.
From Panelokan is the best view one can find over the crater and the active
mount Batur. Lake Batur which lies far below the crater looks very beautiful
with blue water color enclosed by massive wall of mountain such as mount
Abang ridge and Mount Panulisan on the north, while in the middle is active
Mount Batur. Mount Agung can also bee seen far away in the east. From Panelokan
is the road downward to reach the villages below on the bank of the lake
such as Kedisan, Trunyan and Songan. Big restaurants can be found in Panelokan
is Lake View restaurant, Maharaja Restaurant, Gunawan Restaurant, Batur
Restaurant, and many small restaurant serving a la carte menu. Good place
to park the car is also located here. Tour program visiting Kintamani area
will stop here to enjoy the breathtaking view of the panorama, then continue
to upper area where again many restaurants can be found to have meals or
lunch.
Lake and Mount Batur
Lake Batur which is estimated 10 square km has always been attracting people
to live around its' bank. This is proved by the inscriptions mentioned above,
despite the deadly explosion of Mount Batur in 1963, the people around it
have been insisted to live there. Kedisan, Songan and Trunyan villages are
believed as the oldest residents of Bali which is the same as Toraja and
Batak people. In some aspects the have the same similarity in their basic
words to mention objects close to daily life. But in term of ritual they
are closer to Batak village, while the Toraja is closer to current Balinese
on lowland which is bound to deep by rituals, people around Batur lake do
not bound by such a complicated ritual. Their daily life is much depend
on the fishing and cultivation of onion, corn, and vegetable. They are not
able to grow rice as their land is not favorable for it beside the structure
and topography of the land is very difficult, elevating to sharp. They speak
Balinese, although subtle difference can still be heard such as the intonation
and shifting of meaning. People of Songan village pronounce the strongest
and a very distinct pronunciation which makes other Balinese laughing. But
in general can be said that Balinese say / e / at the end of their word,
while these people say / a /. Balinese in general pronounce a word plainly,
while they giving strong emphasize on syllable, so if a word consist of
2 syllables there will be 2 different sound, and if a word consist of 3
syllables then they give 3 different sound.
Trunyan Village
Trunyan village can be reached from Kedisan or west bank of the lake only
by boat. Today there are dozens of motorized boats stand by at the pier
of Kedisan. A boat can transport 6 people crossing the lake 45 minutes from
the pier to Trunyan village. On an inscription issued by one of Balinese
king mentioned the name of Trunyan Village as Turunan meaning descendant.
As the people of Trunyan believed that they were originated from the mountain
on the back side of the ridge and Bhatara Da Tonta was the god who generated
them, so they called themselves as " descendant of Bhatara Da Tonta
" The location of the village is just on the narrow land between the
lake and steep drop of southern crater wall which elevates around 75 degrees,
even more at some places. Yet the people of Trunyan is familiar with this
steep region and laid out paths to reach their farming area on the side
of the wall. Like other Balinese at the lowland, they also have cemetery,
but not one or two, there are 3 cemeteries. One is normal cemetery for those
who died normally, due to the age, second cemetery is for those who died
abnormally such as accidents, strange disease, and others, and the 3rd cemetery
is for infants. The corp is not buried or cremated, but just laid down on
a spot of land enclosed with bamboo fence wrapped with cloth or pandanus
math. To bring the died to the cemetery the people using canoe as there
is no road or path can be laid out on the steep drop of the wall. It is
strange that the decaying corp does not spread bad smell. The people believed
that big tree grows on the cemetery absorbed the bad smell, so people could
not sense it.
Pucak Panulisan
Pucak Panulisan or known also as Gunung Panulisan is a temple erected on
the top of a high hill north of Kintamani town. To reach the top of the
hill from the main road it is steeping around 300 steps. The current temple
on the top of the hill is probably not soo old, but the stone sculpture
that are collected on the temple are really having great value to the history
of Bali. Some of the sculpture bearing the dates of its creation. The oldest
are a couple of spouses with the date of AD 1011 mentioned the artist named
Empu Bga. It is believed that the couple is representing the famous king
of Bali with his wife, the Majesty King Udayana with Princess Mahendra Datta.
See from the style of the sculptures, it seems that not all of them originated
from the same dates, there are some quiet late and it is believed also that
all of them do not from the same site, and as the character of Balinese
it is usual to preserve the old heritages of art in a temple. Closet to
the site of this temple is found a strange temple called the Temple of Balingkang.
This temple is assumed to have relation with the relation of Bali with Chinese
Dynasty of Chung. This vague relation is mentioned on a manuscript that
Balinese king married Chinese Princess which is now symbolized with the
dance of Barong Landung or tall Barong. The female Barong is made in black
color and the male barong is Chinese in all character. If we see from the
word Balingkang it is no doubt that the word come from Bali + kan meaning
king of Bali. The fact that the resident of Kintamani are in big part are
Chinese second no one in oldness of period to other part of Bali. Most of
the Chinese in Bali trace their origin in Kintamani. It might be assumed
that the first Chinese society in Bali must be around Kintamani or probably
around what is now known as Balingkang.
|
