A population mainly distributed in the south
The presence of Muslims in Bali, a predominantly Hindu island, can be explained as follows: in the 1930s, 2 per cent of the ethnic Balinese Muslims were mercenaries to the former kingdoms. These former serfs, merchants, or doctors practiced the traditional exchange of women and occupied uninhabited land under the protection of the local Balinese kings. Later, a new wave of Muslims arrived as civil servants under the rule of the Dutch and settled down, marrying Balinese women or bringing their wives with them. The new Muslims arrived in the 1970s as merchants.
As the Island of the Gods is mainly a tourist destination, the Balinese from the rural north migrated to the south, where most of the tourism is concentrated. The capital Denpasar, close to the airport is the most populated with nearly 900,000 million inhabitants. Kuta and Ubud, in the cultural center, are part of the top 3 most populated regions of Bali. The exception to this ranking is Singaraja, near Buleleng in the north, which has no less than 100,000 inhabitants.
Many Balinese, who have recently settled in the direct vicinity of Denpasar, participate in the life of new banjars but nevertheless keep links with their banjar of origin, which unbalances the distribution of social tasks. Originally, the banjar corresponded to a group of houses with its temple and its altar, but nowadays the banjar have been dispersed and no longer correspond to a strictly territorial organization. Two banjars may occupy the same territory and their members may live several kilometers from the core of the community. It constitutes a community called banjar suka duka, or "association sharing joy and sorrow". Its specific functions ( ayahan) range from helping a member prepare for a wedding or respond to a request from the local government, to building a cremation tower at the cemetery. But these functions also include activities related to the life of a temple: maintenance, preparation of a ceremony, etc.An official language, a local dialect and a tourist language
Any modern state needs a common means of communication. Thus, the different regional languages of the archipelago gradually and imperceptibly became part of Bahasa Indonesia, which became the official language of the country in 1928. The Second Indonesian Youth Congress encouraged the formation of a unified national language: "Satu nusa, satu bangsa, satu bahasa" (one country, one people, one language). Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is largely derived from and closely related to Malay, and is peppered with Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, and more recently French and English, but in very small doses. This language is more complex than it seems to a French speaker, with suffixes and affixes added to words that form new ones. Without forgetting the level of language, sustained or colloquial, that it is very important to apply when communicating with an Indonesian.
In Bali, where children are widely educated, it is very rare that people do not speak Indonesian, except in very poor and remote rural areas. Balinese is spoken by a large proportion of the island's inhabitants, although it tends to be forgotten. This language has several levels related to the caste system and has many dialects. Few people, except the notables, dare to use it for fear of committing an error. Its writing, very complex, is being lost (almost no Balinese, except some representatives of the Brahmin caste, can write Balinese). The first Balinese writings date back to the 11th century. The writing would come from the Palava writing, originating in the south of India.
In Lombok, if Indonesian is widely spoken, it is the Sasak language that is honored, since more than 85% of the inhabitants are from this ethnic group. Also called Bali Sasak, this language of Austronesian origin also includes forms of politeness and derives more directly from Balinese than from Indonesian. Unlike Bali, Lombok's English-speaking inhabitants are few and far between, as the island attracts fewer tourists, so it's worth knowing a few essential Sasak phrases.The Bali-Aga of Bali, a resistant minority
The so-called Bali-Aga, or original Balinese, are the communities that escaped the Indo-Javanese influence of Mojopahit and the Balinese courts that were inspired by it. Their difference lies in two essential points: they have kept their customary laws(Adat) and their land. Some villages, such as Tenganan, still betray their distant customs which can often be linked to other Nousantaran customs still in force in the rest of the archipelago and especially in Nusa Tenggara. Aga means mountain and obviously designates the places that could most easily escape foreign influences by defending their less accessible lands. Chronicles mention a village called Aga, on the slopes of Mount Raung, in East Java, from where Rsi Markandya would have come, who is said to have been the founder of the first temple of Besakih in the 8th century. The Bali-aga culture would then be a mixture of influences coming from the west by Java and its civilizations going back before Mojopahit, and influences coming from the east and the northeast, in particular Nousantarians who would have invested the various islands before arriving in Bali. In the center of the village of Tenganan is located the balé agung, or council pavilion. The Bali-Aga have preserved many collective buildings that are reminiscent of certain architectural and political entities still in force in Sumba or even in Kalimantan. The Bali-Aga arts do not know entertainment or musical concerts. The art here is ritual and corresponds to precise functions and aesthetics. Thus, the beauty of the rejang lies more in the atmosphere of grandeur and deference to the ancestors than in the ceremonial clothing and beautiful headdresses made of hammered gold flowers.
