Denpasar, In the City

Rush to Sakenan on Kuningan Day

Many Balinese use Hindu traditional holy days such as Galungan and Kuningan to attend prayers to God Almighty in combination with recreation and relaxation. These two holy days have made Hindu adherents busy with the preparation of banten implements and visits to temples for prayers, while enjoying views of the countryside.

Take the example of a visit to Pura Sakenan, a temple classified as ‘Six Heavenly Temples,’ known to the Balinese as Pura Sad Khayangan located on Serangan Islet. Since earlier times when the Dutch Colonial Regime had its claws in Indonesia, many people of Denpasar proudly told their colleagues in North Bali about their experience with this temple, while celebrating Kuningan Day on Saturday Kliwon Wuku Kuningan according to the Balinese traditional calendar.
Formerly, visitors had to embark on traditional junks to sail to the islet, through shallow straits with virgin mangrove forest. Around the centre from which the junks set out, a lot of turtles were reared for commercial purposes. In recent times, a large-scale private reconstruction project has paved the way to enable a more comfortable visit to Sakenan Temple by land transport from the mainland.
Mangku Dalem Cemara Serangan (72) spiritually in charge of the accomplishment of Sakenan Temple’s odalan, told Bali Travel News that the ceremony usually takes place during three days starting on the Saturday Kliwon. The site of the temple itself is on the western part of the islet, while there is another temple, known as Pura Susunan Wadon, on the eastern tip of Serangan. There is still a third temple there, Pura Penataran Agung, on the center of the islet.
The lower-ranking priest, Mangku Dalem Cemara, related information that Ida Bhatara Rambut Sakenan or Danghyang Dwijendra has power in hand to control Pura Dalem Sakenan, while Pura Susunan Wadon is under the auspices of Danghyang Dwijendra’s wife. Pura Penataran Agung preserves a throne to Bhatara Luhur Gunung Agung. The sacred Topeng Pajegan dance takes the floor as part of the divine ritual, but there are also dance performances proposed by people coming to the temple to show their spiritual dedication to the gods enshrined there.
There are six administrative banjar communities in the traditional village of Desa Adat Serangan in charge of preserving favorable conditions in Pura Dalem Sakenan, especially to hold preparatory works on the eve of the odalan ceremony. This includes cleansing the temple environment, arranging the parking lot, putting up tents and building trading plots. The Puri Kesiman team should supply all materials needed for preparations, for example making banten offerings or inviting the pedanda priest properly in connection with the latter task of ritual character.
I Wayan Cidra of Banjar Kawan, Desa Adat Serangan traditional village, for instance, is a senior person responsible for keeping the temple area clean, said Mangku Pasek, one of the second-ranking priests in the location. The importance of the odalan ceremony seems to be increasing with participants in the ritual coming not only from Bali but also from other parts of the country such as Java, Lombok, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Many people also come for the ritual during the time of Kliwon, full and dark moon starting early in the morning and going on until the following dawn. Some people come to this temple to have space for holding and attending the dharma wacana religious oration. A specific case that takes place on the peak event during odalan at Pura Dalem Sakenan is the presence of Mangku Gede, a second-ranking priest coming from Sanur in accompaniment of a pedanda priest.(BTN 015)

Serangan Island Turtle Conservation

To the public, Serangan Island is known as the habitat of turtles, contradictory to the recent findings, which show that not many of these creatures have been coming to land on the 11-hectare islet. Why are some quarters concerned with regard to the question of the marine ecology of the southern tip of Bali?
There has been some criticism saying the reduction of the numbers of turtles and the destruction of their habitat is due to a mass slaughter of the animals to satisfy greedy consumers of this tasty food. Such a condition has caused a polemic concerning the real truth surrounding the fate of turtles.
To clarify what has been happening, a Bali Travel News reporter visited Mr. I Wayan Raga, the owner of PT Citra Taman Penyu Serangan, a limited trading company highly concerned with the turtles’ present condition. Mr. Raga is also head (bendesa adat) of Serangan traditional village. He acknowledged serious concern about the mass slaughter of turtles, which took place before the issue of 1990 Governor of Bali’s Decision No. 22. Following this decision, turtle trading and consumption slowed down, Mr. Raga said, adding that this island’s community had launched management and taken action towards turtle conservation long before the Governor’s regulation.
Raga is proud of managing PT Citra Taman Penyu Serangan, the sole business aimed at the conservation of Serangan’s turtles. He owns 150 green turtles he and has various governmental certificates, especially including that of the Conservation of Natural Resources (KSDA). “Similarly our principal permit is for an entertainment and recreational park. Thus, our business is lawful and purely self-reliant aimed at opening opportunities to tourists to watch the animals,” I Wayan Raga explained.
Each year he overlooks the turtle breeding from laying their eggs on the sandy beaches and guarding them until they hatch. Half a month later he releases the youngsters to the sea. “We invite representatives from the government, KSDA and WWF” (World Wide Fund for Nature) he said. Raga’s company released turtles twice in 2002 originating from 500-hatched youngsters. Out of these, 445 turtles were released into the open sea. Recently, a Taiwanese expert released 215 young turtles. In the period 1981 – 2002 the hatching and release of turtles increased, contradictory to criticism and rumours started by some quarters against Serangan community.
I Wayan Raga, who started striving to defend Serangan’s image as the ‘Island of Turtles’ in 1979, has even bought turtle eggs from Sukabumi in West Java. However, lately he has struggled with the rising costs of procuring food and taking care of the turtles’ health. This problem has been made worse due to fall in the number of tourists visiting Bali following Bali’s Black October and the spread of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Finally, he claimed he had had some success in tackling the problem following a cooperative effort with BTID. (BTN/013)