More recently, a new Balinese population has settled here, attracted by jobs as teachers, students, nurses, traders, etc. Strangers among the local "villagers," these Balinese are the creators of a new urban landscape and architecture. Instead of setting up traditional compounds with their numerous buildings and shrines, they build detached houses with a single multi-purpose shrine. In religious matters, they are transients - retaining ritual membership in their village of origin, praying to gods and ancestors from a distance through the medium of the new shrine. They return home for major ceremonies, to renew themselves at the magical and social sources Of their village of origin.

Apart from the Balinese majority, there are several non-indigenous minorities in Denpasar, comprising a quarter of the total Population. Muslim Bugis came to Bali as mercenaries as early as the 18th century. They have their own "banjar' in the village of Kepaon, where they live alongside the Balinese, speaking their language and intermarrying with them. Old men of Pemecutan will show you a "Bugis" shrine in a small temple near the family cremation site.

The Chinese came early as traders for the local princes. They integrated easily, blending their Chinese and Balinese ancestry. They also have a shrine, the Ratu Subandar or "merchant king's" shrine up in Batur, next to the shrines of Balinese ancestral gods. New Chinese, often Christians, have arrived, attracted by the booming economy of Bali.

There are also Arabs and Indian Moslems who came in the thirties as textile traders and have since become one of the most prosperous local communities. They live in the heart of the city, in the Kampung Arab area, where they have a mosque.

Most migrants, however, are Javanese and Madurese, known collectively as "jawa." They fill the ranks of the civil service and the military (Sanglah and Kayumas areas) as well as the working classes, skilled and unskilled (Pekambingan, Kayumas, "Kampung Jawa" areas). New actors on the Balinese social stage, they introduce new habits - food selling, peddling, etc. They are also builders of new housing: shacks and tiny houses that bring Denpasar into line with other cityscapes of modern Indonesia.

Thus Denpasar is very much a place where the theme of nation-building is played out. It brings together within earshot of one another the high priest's mantra, the muezzin's call, and the parson's prayer. "Eka Wakya, Bhinna Srutti" - "The Verbs are One, the Scriptures are Many" - so goes the local saying. Balinese tolerance within a national tolerance. More..