Tenganan: Bali Aga village

Tenganan is the most famous Bali Aga (original Balinese) village and is located close to Candi Dasa in East Bali. Villagers maintain a strict cosmology and social organization. Villagers must live inside the village and marry from within. There are parts of Tenganan, outside of the village proper, where villagers who have marrie outside of the village can live and complete outiders have yet another part.

Tenganan produces fine basketware and a double weave ikat, called a geringsing, the only such place to be found in SE Asia and one of only 3 in the world. Visitors to Tenganan and wander the long restangular village, which is laid out in tiers, wide stone steps in between. Tenganan is closed to outsiders after dark.

The pura puseh (temple of origin), which is in honor of the village founders, lies outside the village walls to the north. At the other end of the village, just inside the entrance is the bale agung, the long rectangular bale where the village council meets.