Balinese Architecture. Julian Davison
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of the index finger. Optimal heights are 20, 21, or 22 rahi.
A measurement of 19 rahi is expressly avoided, the explanation being that it would expose the occupants of the house to disease, crime, and other misfortunes. The latter measurement is sometimes referred to as buta dengan milara and is said to be the cause of unhappy love affairs.
The posts of the house rest on masonry or stone column bases called umpak, and the rigidity of the structure is established by tie-beams which are stiffened at the joints by shores or brackets. Individual components are joined by mortise-and-tenon, or lap joints, and are secured by a wedge or wooden peg.
The Asta Kosali prescribes what kinds of timber should be used for particular building requirements. Traditionally, the preferred material for house posts is teak, which ideally should be cut from a living tree growing locally, although teak imported from Kalimantan or Java is considered to be superior.
Offerings must be made before the tree is felled and, when the posts are ready to be raised into position, care must be taken to ensure that they are erected according to the direction of growth of the tree trunk from which they were cut, with the root end being placed in the foundations and the growing tip end supporting the roof. On no account may posts be erected “upside down,” that is to say, with the direction of growth inverted.
The Walls
The walls of Balinese houses are made from stone, brick, or even simply mud. They do not carry any load, as they are completely detached from the timber structure that supports the roof.
The favored building material is paras, a kind of soft sandstone that is cut into uniform brick-sized blocks and then gently baked in the sun. Using muddy water for mortar, these bricks are rubbed back and forth on the preceding course until they stick. When the mud is still wet, it provides an element of adhesion. Subsequently, the wall is held together simply by its weight and the near-perfect fit between courses. Paras is a very plastic material, which can be easily carved, but is not very durable and soon deteriorates when exposed to the elements, hence the ancient appearance of many Balinese buildings, despite the fact that most structures are no more than a few years old.
The Balinese also employ adobe as a building material. This is made locally from wet earth kneaded into balls and placed in the sun to dry.
Walls are constructed by placing these mud balls in parallel rows and then filling the crevices with more mud. Another layer is added on top, and the process is repeated until the desired wall elevation is achieved.
Adobe is even less durable than paras. As such, it always has a protective coping of thatch that is usually made from rice straw. Rice straw thatch does not itself last very long and is usually renewed after each harvest.
The Roof
Since the materials used to make walls are not very durable, care is taken to ensure that the walls are well protected from the elements by widely overhanging eaves. The main framework is made of bamboo with the roof ridge supported by king posts, girders, and columns.
The usual roofing material used in ordinary buildings is a thick thatch that is made from alang-alang grass (Imperata cylindrica). The grass is gathered in bundles which are then doubled over the midrib of coconut fronds and stitched in place. These sections of thatching are lashed on to the bamboo framework of the roof using red-dyed rattan cords or ties made from the natural fiber of the sugar palm (Arenga pin-nata). Extra thatch is placed along the ridges for reinforcement.
Lastly, the roof is combed with a special type of rake and the bottom edge is trimmed with a knife. Such a roof, which may be up to 50 centimeters in thickness, can last for many years.
More important structures may employ locally made clay pantiles, or even modern Marseilles tiles, while split bamboo shingles are a popular choice for roofing material in mountain regions as they are more durable than thatch. In the case of religious structures and family shrines, black thatch (ijuk) from the sugar palm is used for roofing instead of alang- alang.
Traditional Balinese houses are built almost entirely of organic materials: wood, bamboo, grass thatch, and plant fibers
A pegged mortise-and-tenon joint.
The method of tying alang-alang thatch.
The parts of a house post.
Layout of the Compound
The initial stage of construction, when the overall dimensions of the compound are marked out and the plan of the different structures-and their relative position to one another-are laid out on the ground, is critical for determining both the character of the buildings erected and the potential fate of those who will occupy them.
Grid Layout of the Compound
Conceptually, the Balinese residential compound can be divided in accordance with the nawa-sanga scheme of things into nine squares consisting of the eight cardinal directions and the center. The family shrines are positioned in the most auspicious corner of the compound, “toward the mountains” (kaja) and “to the east” (kangin). The sleeping pavilion (meten) of the householder, which is the next most important building in the compound, is positioned immediately to the west of the family temple, which reflects not only the senior position of the family head but also his relative proximity to the ancestors in terms of descent.
As noted earlier, measurement and orientation play a crucial role in Balinese architecture. The first set of dimensions that must be determined, once the site of the compound has been selected, is its length and width overall. The basic unit of measurement employed here is the distance between the fingertips of the two hands when the arms are fully outstretched on either side of the body (depa). The sum of the lengths of two sides must add up to an odd number of these units, and their difference in length, when one is subtracted from the other, should also be an odd number of units. If there is a mistake in the measurements and their sum or difference happens to be an even number of units, it is said that the compound is “without doors,” “closed” or “blocked.” It is also said to be “like a body without a soul,” in other words “dead” (mati). The explanation given is that a compound without doors provides no access for the gods and at the same time prevents the expulsion of malevolent influences. Such a site cannot support life, hence its designation as moribund.
Site Rituals
The various stages of construction and the eventual occupancy date are determined by auspicious dates in the Balinese calendar. Construction is inaugurated by the rite of suci daksina peras ajuman panyeneng, which is intended to purify the site. This rite involves placing supplicatory offerings at the “mountain” (kaja) end of the compound. A similar offering is also placed at the kelod end to placate malevolent spirits and other harmful agencies (buta kala). Each subsequent stage of construction must be accompanied by further offerings to negate malign influences.
Layout of the Compound
The first part of the building to be constructed after the inaugural rites have been conducted by the local priest are the walls of the compound. Once these are completed, temporary shrines are erected in the place where the family temple will eventually be built.
Work then starts on laying out the rest of the compound in accordance with the spatial precepts of the Balinese compass rose, or nawa-sanga (p. 5), which provides a framework for the proper orientation of buildings. The compass rose can be seen in terms of a grid consisting of a rectangle, corresponding to the perimeter wall of the compound, subdivided into nine “squares.”