The Pura’s Oral History

The Forgotten Social Life of Bali’s Temples

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-624-6_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Oral History; Balinese Heritages; Collective Memory; Civic Spaces

Abstract

Although widely recognized as the “Island of a Thousand Temples,” many of Bali’s sacred heritage sites lack formal documentation, relying primarily on local mythology. Focusing on key temples within Denpasar—the majority of which are nominated as objek diduga cagar budaya (ODCB)—this study utilizes oral history to demonstrate that these spaces served as vital hubs of community life rather than exclusively religious sanctuaries. Field data indicates that these sites historically functioned as civic spaces: serving as recreational areas, community healing centers during periods of limited medical infrastructure, and essential centers for food security prior to the development of modern markets. Furthermore, these narratives document significant human-environmental interactions, preserving institutional memory regarding local ecosystems and shifting landscapes. Ultimately, analyzing the oral traditions of these temples provides a comprehensive record of regional socio-economic dynamics, mapping their evolution into the contemporary era. Ultimately, oral history allows us to examine a heritage site’s past within a closer contemporary timeline, celebrating its living legacy rather than tracking it too far back into poorly documented ancient eras.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - I Kadek Surya Jayadi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
TI  - The Pura’s Oral History
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on History, Social Sciences, and Education (ICHSE 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 63
EP  - 70
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-624-6_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-624-6_5
ID  - Jayadi2026
ER  -