Karangasem, On the Wallace Line

Tabas Stone Artisans

The Mount Agung explosion in 1963 damaged some villages around the mountain such as Muncan, Sebudi and Tigaron villages. The explosion caused many deaths and loss of property as the villagers’ houses and fields were covered with hot and cold lava.

More than 30 years has passed and the Mount Agung eruption does not have any effect now for the villagers around Mount Agung, especially at Muncan village. There are many black stones as a reminder of the eruption, and these are exploited as a source of income. Black stone, which is well known as tabas stone, is used as a building material for houses and pelinggih (shrines or holy places for worship in the Balinese Hindu community; literally “seat” for god) that supply a great income for the villagers of Muncan village. Almost all villagers in this village earn their living selling pelinggih and building materials made from tabas stone.
I Kadek Yasa, one of the tabas stones artisans from Telaga, Muncan, Karangasem Regency, has been in the business since 1997. Formerly he worked as a laborer at one of the tabas stone industries in his village. Today he owns a business with 22 workers who generally come from the areas around the village. The tabas stones are taken from Kubu and Uma Anyar villages. Large stones are cut by a cutting machine into several smaller pieces. They are then refined, formed, and finally piled up in the shape of pelinggih like padmasana (an important shrine that is found in many temples; it has an empty chair for Sang Hyang Widhi or for God on the top; the shrine should have an eight-leafed lotus, one leaf for each of the gods of the eight directions) or kemulan (an important roofed shrine, usually on the kangin (east) side in the family temple; it has three horizontal compartments for Brahma, Wisnu, and Iswara gods). The stone is sold in a quadrangle shape if it is used as building materials.
According to Kadek Yasa, it needs patience and care in making pelinggih buildings because the size must be precise and in balance. Padmasana building size is 1,50 m x 1,20 m, and is produced in two weeks by ten workers and it is sold for Rp. 17 million on average. The kemulan foundation building with lion-shaped carving 1,30 m x 1,30 m is sold for Rp. 4,5 million on average. The majority of the products are marketed to outside the village such as Tabanan Regency, Denpasar, Sukawati, and to other areas of Bali. Moreover, the products are marketed outside the island such as Solo (Central Java) and Jakarta. “The majority of the consumers come directly to us and choose the shape and size of the product they want”, the father of one child said. Furthermore he explained that the supply of tabas stones is still readily available for his business which is located in Muncan Village, about 18 km to the east of Besakih Temple or about 65 km the east of Denpasar. (Wawan)