Tenganan PegringsinganTenganan Pegringsingan

Tenganan Pegringsingan, in Karangasem Regency, is a Bali Aga village, the name for Balinese communities who trace their ancestry to before Majapahit influence. Houses line both sides of the village street as it slopes from uphill to downhill, their doors opening onto the shared space in the middle. Every morning the kulkul, the village's wooden slit drum, is struck to mark the start of the day. The village is known for gringsing, a double-ikat cloth in which both warp and weft threads are tied and dyed with natural pigments before weaving. The technique survives in only a handful of places in the world, and a single cloth can take years to finish. Gringsing is worn in life-cycle ceremonies and is believed to offer protection. Every year, usually around June to July, the village holds Usaba Sambah. Part of it is mekare-kare, the pandan war: ritual duels between young men armed with rattan shields and bundles of thorny pandan leaves, offered to the god Indra. The timing follows the customary calendar, so we never promise a visit will coincide with it.