DENPASAR
Denpasar
is a "village-city" with an aristocratic past. Born
from the ashes of the defeated Pemecutan court following the
Puputan massacre of 1906, Denpasar became a sleepy administrative
outpost during Dutch times. Since independence, and especially
after it was made the capital of Bali in 1958, it has been
transformed into a bustling city of some 350,000 souls that
provides administrative, commercial and educational services
not only to booming Bali, but to much of eastern Indonesia
as well. Denpasar is the most dynamic city east of Surabaya,
and arguably the richest in the country - there are more vehicles
per capita here than in Jakarta.
New city,
old villages
Originally
a market town - its name literally means "east of the market"
- Denpasar has far outgrown its former boundaries, once defined
by the Pernecutan, Jero Kuta and Satriya palaces and the brahmanical
houses Tegal, Tampak gangsul and Gemeh. Spurred in all directions
by population pressures motorized transport, urban growth is
little enveloping the neighboring villages obliterating the
surrounding rice fields, leaving a new urban landscape in its
wake housing estates in the midst of rice fields in the middle
of the city.
To the northeast,
urbanization spills. across the Ayung River into the village
Batubulan, famous for its barong dance where the conservatory
of dance has recently been relocated. To the south, it reaches
Sanur and even to Kuta, while the Bukit it is now subjected
to a frenzy of land speculation. To the northwest, it sprawls
as far Kapal, whose beautiful temple now has to seen above the
din and dust of suburban traffic.
This unchecked
growth has swallowed many old villages of the plain, yet in
many ways they remain as they were - their arc architecture
focused around open courtyard they have intact their intricate
temples collective banjars. The power structure its although
adapting to new urban tasks and occupations, has also not changed
much. Local satriyas, be they hotel managers or civil servants,
remain princes - they still have control of land and territorial
temples and M mobilize their "subjects" for ceremonies
Local brahmans
are even more powerful continuing to provide ritual services
for their followers and occupying some of the best positions
in the new Bali. Thus Denpasar is a showcase of Balinese social
resiliency - still "Bali" and worth a visit for its
gates, its shrines and its royal mansions.
But Denpasar
is nevertheless a modern city. Shops, roads and markets have
conquered the wet rice field areas allowed to be leased and
sold by village communities. Here, urbanization has taken on
the same features found elsewhere in Indonesia - rows of gaudily-painted
shops in the business districts; pretty villas along the "protocol"
streets; narrow alleys, small compounds and tiny houses in the
residential areas. more...
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Check out the accommodations
in this Area
More about the Badung
area -| Nusa
Dua | Kuta
Legian | Sanur
| Denpasar
