The Pedawa Indigenous Community is an Aat Community that lives in the Pedawa Traditional Village, Buleleng Regency, Bali. The Pedawa Traditional Village is one of the old villages of Bali Aga or Bali Mula, a Balinese tribe that is believed to be the original inhabitants of Bali.
Initially, Pedawa was known as Gunung Tambleg, this name was given because its ancestors came from Tamblingan and also described its innocent or simple inhabitants. The Pedawa Indigenous Community has different ritual procedures from other Indigenous Communities in Bali, for example, the burial procedure does not adhere to the cremation system. The word Pedawa itself comes from the word the magician which means everyone is the same, no one has a caste. In 2024, the population of Pedawa Traditional Village will be 6.163 people, 50 percent of whom are children and young people spread across five traditional hamlets (sambangan).
Pedawa Traditional Village has been inhabited since the megalithic era. This is evidenced by the existence of relics in the form of sarcophagi and places of worship such as piles of stones and mounds of earth. Pedawa Traditional Village has rituals, traditions, and cultures that are very noble and valuable. There are many philosophies of life in each ritual and cultural tradition. However, currently, traditions, cultures, rituals, and even the philosophy of life of all of them are starting to erode along with the development of the times and the excessive number of tourist visits. Conditions over tourism (the number of tourists visiting exceeds the capacity) in Bali is quite disturbing, one of the worst in the world. Until August 2024, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded 616.641 foreign tourists visiting Bali.
Over Tourism in Bali has an impact on the beginning of the disappearance of culture. Visibly, fewer young people can perform cultural tradition rituals and do not understand the philosophy behind the traditions, culture, and rituals. In addition, if someone who is not Balinese is asked about Bali, the answers that come out are like "foreigners, tourists, and bule," not about how rich the culture in Bali is.
This condition is also seen in the Pedawa Traditional Village, even worse, more and more young people are migrating from the village to the city to look for work. Those who live in the village are mostly parents and children who are still in school. Places belonging to the traditional village such as the bale banjar, the village wantilan are increasingly quiet, because there are no traditional activities or meetings. In fact, it is still fresh in the memories of the elders, how the residents used to gather noisily in the bale banjar, the children were busy playing while learning about traditions, culture, and traditional rituals from the parents here. The severance of the regeneration of knowledge, traditions, customs, and culture is a big concern for the traditional leaders in the Pedawa Traditional Village.
To counteract the impact over tourism and ensure the regeneration of customary knowledge to the next generation of customary knowledge, the Pedawa Customary Community revitalizes customary knowledge by establishing the Manik Empul Customary School (Pasraman). Pasraman is a special educational institution in the field of Hinduism. The goal is to ensure that the transfer of knowledge, traditions, culture, and rituals in the Pedawa Customary Village from the older generation to the younger generation is not interrupted.
The launch of the Manik Empul Traditional Pasraman was carried out on October 22, 2024, attended by approximately 150 people from the relevant government from the sub-district level to neighboring villages, schools, and the media. In addition to the launch activity, on the same day, facilitator training was also carried out for 15 prospective resource persons, facilitators, and teachers, especially to align perceptions regarding teaching methods. Because almost all resource persons already know and understand the teaching materials, even though there is no learning module yet.
Regarding the revitalization of knowledge of the Traditional School, Wayan Sadyana as the Head of the Traditional School or Pasraman Manik Empul said:
"Old people have a place to pour out things that have not had a place before. Many old people tell me about things they used to know. It is not uncommon for old people to ask me, 'Wayan is looking for old things, huh?' Kaki (grandfather) knows there are gending and also old-time games," said one kaki.
Among teenagers, there is an interest in our contextual teaching methods where we give them a role to explore and we facilitate.
Several times I was confirmed, 'When will there be another traditional school activity?' Optimism among schools also occurred. Several school leaders in Pedawa Village have confirmed about synergy with traditional schools. This is a trigger for the real inclusion of local wisdom elements in the school curriculum. "
Wayan Sadyana – Head of the Manik Empul Religious Temple
After the launch, a team of curriculum experts consisting of traditional elders, youth, and traditional women worked together to develop a curriculum and learning module packages based on local values for teaching materials in traditional schools. The three Pasraman Adat Pedawa module packages include:
- lelinih nemu bracelet – a traditional ceremonial system passed down from generation to generation;
- Dangkayan – holy place and its history;
- Holy water for traditional ceremonies – uses and process of making holy water.
Currently, the learning module is still in the finalization stage and will be printed after receiving approval from the Pedawa Traditional Village community. The guidelines and module packages will greatly facilitate regular learning, not only once a year, but every time the Balinese Language Month activity takes place or once every 6 months.
Pasraman Manik Empul is also expected to be able to melt the “freeze” between generations in the continuation of cultural narratives. As expressed by Wayan Sadyana below.
""So far, young people tend to feel pakewuh or embarrassed to ask about traditional matters because they are afraid of being considered 'impolite' or in Pedawa language it is often called 'wayahan bunggut', meaning acting like an adult when asking about traditional matters. With the existence of traditional schools, children and teenagers seem to be given a place to pass on and accept local wisdom narratives."
Wayan Sadyana – Head of the Manik Empul Religious Temple
To ensure the pasraman continues to operate and support the village's economic independence, Pedawa Traditional Village also plans to establish a Village-Owned Enterprise (BUPDA). The annual fund allocated for the traditional village is only IDR 10 million—not enough to support the operation and development of the traditional school.
Discussions between the village officials and the pasraman team discussed the business opportunities of an ecological tourism village in Pedawa to support funding for traditional schools. In October 2024, it was decided that the pasraman would be developed into a “Bali Aga Learning Center”, so that it could also be a source of income to support the pasraman’s operations.
In addition to launching the Pasraman, the Pedawa Traditional Community also has a new strategy for conserving water sources by planting 300 aren palm seedlings that have economic value and 150 supporting plants planted on 4 hectares of land, spread across 18 water sources in Pedawa Village.
This is done to make it easier for the Pedawa Indigenous Community to get clean water. Although the Pedawa Indigenous Village is located at a high altitude and has many water sources, the Pedawa Indigenous Community still has difficulty finding clean water due to the use of drilled wells and excessive groundwater extraction by tourism businesses.
Water-keeping plants such as sugar palm, bamboo, and banyan used to be abundant, but many have been cut down to become clove plantations. If the erosion of water-keeping plants continues to be allowed, the negative impacts will certainly spread.
The sugar palm tree is an important part of the Pedawa Village ecosystem. Sugar palm has long played a role as an old tree that guards water sources. Sugar palm has also been one of the mainstays of the community's economy for generations, from its palm wine to the distinctive and much-loved brown sugar, as well as from its fibers for sacred buildings and its leaves for ceremonial purposes.
The sustainability of water sources is closely related to the sustainability of the customs and culture of the Pedawa Community. They have a set of local knowledge and wisdom about the use and existence of water, known as kayuan, a water source or spring that is sacred for traditional and religious ceremonies. Holy water in the view of the Pedawa Community is not only obtained from water that is purified by religious leaders or traditional leaders, but also water that comes directly from nature, such as water from springs, river water, and dew water.
This effort is not only aimed at restoring the economic potential based on sugar palm which has been part of the lives of the Pedawa people for generations but also at maintaining the sustainability of water sources, both for household needs and holy water for traditional and religious ceremonies.