altogether. Thus, Pangkong Prabu reveals
radical tortion in its social matrix, but its vivid identity stems
from the sanctity of its location. As the name suggests, it straddles
a small stream; and it is overshadowed by a lofty banyan where,
once upon a time, a holy man achieved moksa. The number-two raja
of Tabanan once constructed a royal shrine to confirm his house's
participation in the site's auspiciousness. The family heads of
Pangkon. Prabu were limited to ten, all considered descendants of
the holy man, and the eldest line became the source of successive
extraordinarily pure pemangkus, custodians of the royal shrine.
Today the old royal patrons barely maintain the shrine, but the
significance of Pangkon Prabu has riot diminished. Tobe a resident
there is to dwell in a locale of holy danger. As the current pemangku
recalls, once even a Madurese Muslim, son of a Haji, was attracted
by the power of the spot to pay homage beneath the banyan tree to
the spirits of this place.
Thus, the complicated principles of Balinese social organization
based on diverse sets of affiliations for individual family heads,
stretch over a landscape rich in symbols and lore of spatial identity.
This tendency to assign religions attributes to localities was supported
and harnessed by the rajas and their advisors. A space can be defined
and coded by some sort of temple, and an individual or group participates
in its nature.' The space might be named for an ideal aspect of
the group occupying it, as in Banjar Pande (smith's hamlet). Or
the space may be intrinsically enchanted and its residents subject
to 'contagion,' as in Dalern or Pangkon Prabu. Foreign enclaves
- such as the Islamic 'Kampong jawa' of Tabanan are. in fact, viewed
by Balinese as such legendary localities. Any new residential area
is watched closely to see if it reveals signs of particular pure
impure qualities; if such signs are detected, a temple will likely
be built to acknowledge them, and a group will be elevated to oversee
the temple's proper maintenance.
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