Space Transformation in Houses of Balinese in Basarang Jaya Village,
Basarang, Kapuas, Central Kalimantan
Herwin Sutrisno*1, Gagoek Hardiman2, Edward Endrianto Pandelaki2
1
Student in Doctorate Program of Architecture and Urbanism, Universitas Diponegoro Semarang.
2
Lecturer in Faculty of Engineering Universitas Diponegoro Semarang *Email : iyo.hsutrisno@gmail.com
Abstract
Basarang is an area opened in 1961 as a transmigration area for spontaneous immigrants from Bali who evacuated there during the eruption of Mount Agung. The Bali culture brought by these people experienced growth and changes. The strong identity of Balinese gave Basarang the name of Kampung Bali. This identity is signified by the existence of houses and sanggah (on the front yard), buildings of worships or Pura, and Hindu-Bali religious routines and many Balinese social organizations, especially in Basarang Jaya village which shaped a linier settlement in the left and right side of trans Kalimantan road. Research is done during wedding and funeral ceremony happening in Basarang Jaya using qualitative method. The phenomena of activity that happens during Ngaben (funeral) and weddings in Basarang Jaya use semi-public and private spaces and change the position of micro-spaces. These changes are influenced by several factors, which are kinship, togetherness, and collaboration.
Keywords : Transformation, space, activity phenomena, Basarang Jaya Balinese
Introduction
People are a union of human life interacting according to a certain cultural system that is continuous and tied by a sense of identity (Koentjaraningrat, 1990). A group of people moving from one cultural environment to another experiences a socio cultural process that will influence adaptation mode and the shape of its identity (Abdullah, 2006).
Basarang was first opened in 1961 and was given to the government of Central Kalimantan in 1975 as one of the trans-migrants settlements with people coming from Bali during the eruption of Agung Mountain. These days, Basarang Jaya village is better known as Kampung Bali Basarang (Basarang Balinese Kampong) due to the strong identity projected by the long-settled Balinese. This identity is visible through the existence of jagad (place of worship) in front of each houses and pura around the village (Rado, 2007). This Bali settlement has a linear-shaped pattern along the trans-Kalimantan road heading down to South Kalimantan.
Research Methods
Method used in this research is qualitative method. Data is collected through observation and interview with local public figure. Next, data is interpreted to identify the spatial function and transformation process.
Target in this research is identifying the existing spaces and the spatial transformation space in houses of Balinese settlement in Basarang Jaya village that happened due to the activity phenomena of wedding and funeral ceremonies.
Research Location
Scope of research is the settlement of Balinese in Basarang Jaya Village, located in Basarang sub-regency. Geographically, Basarang is located in 2o 53’ LS - 3o01’ LS dan 114o14’ BT - 114o 23’ BT in the area of Kapuas regency, Central Kalimantan (Fig. 1). Basarang regency has 14 villages with 206 km2 total area and population of 17,639. Population in Basarang consists of many ethnicities: Bali, Java, Banjar, and Dayak Ngaju as the native. The number of Balinese here is more or less 40% of the population. Majority of these Balinese (60%) are settled in four villages, which are Batu Ninan, Basarang Jaya, Bungai Jayam and Lunuk Ramba, the rest are separated to some other villages.
Research scope is limited to one village, which is Basarang Jaya village (Fig.2). Balinese in this village reaches 96% of the population (Parkada Hindu Dharma Kecamatan Basarang, 2006). The high percentage of Balinese is the basic reason for choosing the research location. Based on the data
by Statistics in 2010, the number of Basarang Jaya’s population is 1,314 and they rule the economy in Basarang regency. The sufficient public facility and infrastructures are mostly in Basarang Jaya, making this village the center of socio-cultural and religious activities of Balinese in Basarang. Moreover it is supported with the number of religious facilities such as temples. There are 10
temples and Jagad Natha temple as the regency temple and Basarang’s landmark. The location of
Basarang Jaya is in between two villages that are also settled by many Balinese, which are Batu Nindan village on the west and Bungai Jaya on the east.
Balinese in Basarang commonly live from farming and planting. This profession affects the shape of micro spaces inside and outside of these houses (Fig. 3 and 4). These micro spaces are considered public, semi public, and private (Table 1).
Figure 3. Micro spatial and outside spaces arrangement in Basarang Jaya village Source : Field Survey, 2014
Figure 4. Spatial arrangement of micro spaces in a house in Basarang Jaya village Source : Field Survey, 2014
Table 1. Spatial arrangement of micro spaces in a house in Basarang Jaya village
Micro space Nature of space
Road Public
Figure 2.Research location, Basarang Jaya Village Source : BPS, 2010
Semi public and private micro space arrangement in a house in Basarang Jaya village Public and
private micro space
Result and Discussion
A.Activity Phenomena during Wedding in Basarang Jawa Village
Activity phenomena that were observed is during the wedding ceremony in Mr. Wayan Sindre, SPd,
MPd’s house, during his niece’s wedding. According to observation and interview, togetherness and
collaboration of the people in Basarang Jaya, both in the Balinese community and cross-ethnicity are in an excellent condition. One of the examples is during the preparation and execution of the wedding ceremony. Aside of using micro spaces inside the house of the bride, the ceremony also use external spaces between neighbors houses. Micro spaces inside the bride house that are semi public such as the parlor, living room, and private spaces like kitchen, dining room, and toilets, are all used. External spaces used are roads, front yards, and side lawns. The wedding ceremony is attended by close relatives, neighbors, and close friends (figure 5 and 6).
Wedding ceremony is started with a string of cultural ceremony:
1. Ngekeb: this event is to prepare the bride to be to leave her teenager life and enter the life of a household as a wife and a housewife and to pray to God to give blessings and happiness to the couple and to be given good ancestry. After that, in the afternoon, bride’s entire body will be scrubbed.
2. Mungkah lawang (Open door): a messenger for Mungkah Lawang is assigned to knock on the bedroom door of the bride three times, accompanied by a malat singing Balinese song. The content of the song is a message saying the groom has arrived to pick up the bride and ask for her to open the door.
3. Mesegehagung ceremony: when the bride and groom arrive at the groom’s yard, both of them step down from the carriage and get ready to do Mesegehagung ceremony which means a welcoming gesture towards the bride. Both are then carried back to the wedding chamber.
4. Madengen-dengen: this ceremony is done to clean both the bride and groom from negative energy in them. This ceremony is led by a cultural leader.
5. Mewidhi Widana: this ceremony is led by a Sulingguh or Ida Peranda. Both the bride and groom use traditional wedding clothes. This ceremony is done to perfect the cleaning of the bride and groom that was done during the earlier ceremonies. Next, both the bride and groom head to merajan, which is an altar to pray for a permission and blessing from God. This is led by a merajan leader.
Figure 5. Activity phenomena of Basarang Jaya village during wedding ceremony Source: Wayan Sindre, 2013
B.Activity Phenomena during Funerals in Basarang Jaya village
Activity phenomena that was observed is during the funeral in Mr. Made Sastrawan’s house (Figure 7). Funerals are done by the mourning family, close relatives, and banjar ketawana inside a culture community of Basarang Jaya village (Basarang Jaya village has three banjar). Ngaben is done straight away if the mourning family is financially capable to do so. If the mourning family cannot afford it, they can wait until the mass Ngaben ceremony, because these ceremonies cost a lot of money, up to hundreds million rupiah. The activity of preparing for Ngaben is done collaboratively by the mourning family, close relatives, and the banjar in Basarang Jaya Village using micro spaces in the mourning house. Micro spaces used are public spaces, such as the porch, semi-public spaces such as the parlor and living room, even private spaces such as the kitchen, dining room, and restrooms. These spaces are made into gathering spaces when they prepare the tools and feast for the Ngaben ceremony. Aside of using these micro spaces, external spaces are also used, which are located between houses.
Figure 7. Activity phenomena on external spaces during funerals in Basarang Jaya village Source: Wayan Sindre, 2013
C.Micro Space Transformation during Wedding and Funerals in Basarang Jaya village
Arrangement of micro spaces and external spaces in houses in Basarang Jaya village during weddings and funerals are experiencing transformations. This transformation happens because the host family does not maintain the privacy level of the spaces, thus neighbors and relatives consider this house their property as well. They can access micro spaces inside the house, all semi-public and private spaces. This is seen clearly from the interview and observation during the wedding
ceremony in Mr. Wayan Sindre’s house and the funeral in Mr. Made Sastrawan’s house. Micro
Figure 10. External and micro space transformation process during weddings and funerals in Basarang Jaya village
Source : Analysis, 2014 Information :
External space (front yard, side lawn, and porch) that are semi-public become public
Micro space (parlour, living room, kitchen, toilets) that are semi-public become public
Figure 9. External space transformation process during weddings and funerals in Basarang
Jaya village
Source : Analysis, 2014
Porch and side lawn transform to public space during weddings and funerals
Kitchen transformed into public space during weddings and funerals
Figure 8. Micro space transformation process during weddings and funerals in Basarang Jaya village
Source : Analysis, 2014
Table 2. External and micro space transformation process during weddings and funerals in Basarang Jaya village
Micro Space Nature of Space Space Transformation
Road Public Public village to experience a transformation. Semi-public and private micro space transform into public spaces. This transformation is caused by the existence of kinship factor, togetherness, and collaborative nature of the people. The consistency of these factors makes the privacy level in these micro spaces automatically change during wedding and funeral ceremonies.
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