Tenganan is one of two villages of indigenous Bali Aga peoples who were driven into the island's mountainous interior by the arrival of the modern Balinese from Java (Majapahit) around the end of the 14th century. Tengananese culture combines pre-Hindu megalithic tradition with Hinduism. Most houses are made from concrete bricks roofed with dry grasses (somi). Girls must marry a local boy. A married man carries a keris (traditional dagger) whenever he goes outside of the family housing compound as a symbol of being the family guardian. The village is surrounded by a wall with three gates and has two rows of houses.
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Last modified 19 January 2019