Indonesia Traveling - Indonesia Traveling Sea and Land Guide

Loloan People-Pengambengan Village

Click to Enlarge !

Click to Enlarge !

Inland from Melaya are the parallel Christian communities of Palasari (Catholic) and Blimbingsari (Protestant), built at the beginning of the century in a settlement area for Balinese who had converted to Christianity. The villages are surrounded by hills and paddy fields. Their uniqueness, however, lies in the cultural cocktail present in the churches , which mix both Gothic and Balinese architectural styles.

The Loloan people are located in the Jembrana Regency of the island of Bali. More specifically, they live in the villages of Pengembangan, Tegal Badeng Islam, Cupel, Tukadaya, Banyubiru, Tuwed, Candi Kusuma, Sumber Sari, Ketatan, Airkuing, Sumbul, and Pekutatan. The word loloan is derived from the word liloan ("wrapped around" or "winding"), which refers to the first settler's description of the River Ijogading, which is turbulent with changing currents. It is thought that their ancestors were Muslim immigrants from Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Malaysia. Sunan Wajo led the first group of settlers from Sulawesi. They came to Bali in the 17th Century to escape from the Dutch military. At that time, I Gusti Ngurah Pancoran, the King of Jembrana, welcomed them. He had also resisted the Dutch. These Bugis-Makassar immigrants developed good relationship with the King for the purpose of converting all of his people to Islam. Another group of settlers came from Kalimantan and was led by Abdullah bin Yahya Al Qadry, a descendant of the Sultan of Pontianak. Several of the Melayu groups from Malaysia originated from the areas of Pahang, Johor, Kedah and Trengganu and some of the immigrants were of Arab origin. These groups were also seeking to evade the Dutch military and became assimilated into the Loloan people group.

What are their lives like?
As a community, the Loloan villages have significantly different characteristics than the villages of the Bali people who live in the surrounding areas. In addition to the obvious religious differences, there are also other differences such as the style of homes. The Loloan houses are built on raised platforms, on top of stilts approximately two meters high. The main door of their houses always faces to the east. The location of the door in this manner is designed to avoid any distraction when they are doing their prayers toward Mecca in the west.The decorations of their houses is generally Islamic in nature, such as Arabic calligraphy. The Loloan style of dress, especially the womens', is also Islamic. In general, they maintain a special and distinctive cultural pattern in the midst of the Hindu Bali people, who have in turn, maintained their own cultural distinctiveness in the midst of an overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

What do they believe?
They are strong Muslims, which is different from the majority of the Bali people group who are Hindu. This leads to their being ostracized by the Bali people. Loloan traditional laws have been handed down through the generations, and they also strictly enforce Islamic law. Despite this, there are Loloan people who are greatly influenced by animism and many superstitions. These beliefs cause them to seek protection using magic by either appeasing or controlling good and evil spirits.