Bali - Kapal

Kapal village in Badung regency has turned into the center for sampian, plaited young coconut leaves or palm leaves usually used for religious rituals. In the past, women in the village created the beautifully plaited leaves in their spare time. Nowadays, it has become the source of their livelihoods.

The celebration of Galungan and Kuningan has brought more profits for these small businesses, which are even more lucrative than the sales of sanggah (worship monuments), which had been a more popular product from the village.

For two months before the festivities, dozens of local women have been skillfully doing the metuesan (cutting and plaiting the leaves into artistic ornaments) as it is their busiest time of year.

To make the ornaments more attractive, the leaves were colored green and red and plastic flowers or beads are added to them. Most of these ornaments are made of palm leaves transported from Java, Madura and East Nusa Tenggara. A pair of tamiang is sold for Rp 10,000 while a package of penjor is sold for between Rp 500,000 to Rp 1 million. During the days leading up to ceremonies, the kiosks and houses lining the village, along the main road connecting Denpasar and Gilimanuk, are colorful from all the ornaments.

Tamiang, according to the website Hindu-Indonesia.com, originated from the word tameng, which means shield. Tameng is also the symbol of Dewata Nawa Sanga, because it points to the nine cardinal directions. In the Kuningan celebration, tamiang and endongan are installed in house corners and on worship monuments. The two symbols are closely related: the tamiang represents a weapon or protection and endongan represents supplies. Therefore, together they symbolize that the main supply in life is knowledge and devotion, while the main weapon in life is serenity of mind.

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