Denpasar, Bali’s Capital Town
Denpasar rose to power during the 19th century. Then, access to the sea, with its trade of opium, weapons and early manu- factured products, became more important than control over the hinterland. Denpasar happened to occupy the center of the southern ricefield plain with direct access to the main anchoring place of Sanur and Benoa to the east of the southern peninsula, and Kuta to its west.
With the help of Tabanan, the princes of Denpasar defeated the kingdom of Mengwi at the end of the century and became the most powerful rulers of the land. Paradoxically, Denpasar’s fame came from its “puputan” fight to the death against the Dutch in 1906, when thousands of Balinese warriors, dressed in their finest Balinese regalia, and armed only with their traditional weapons like the keris (short dagger) and spears, hurled themselves against the lines of Dutch carbines, the injured then being finished off by entranced priests and frenzied women, also looking for death. Much of the nobility was wiped out. The incident is now remembered by the Puputan Square of the former kingdom of Badung, where the slaughter took place.
In spite of this war and defeat, Denpasar’s strategic position ensured its rapid growth. The Dutch made it the center of its communication network in the South, the most populated part of the island, by constructing, beside roads, the harbor of Benoa and the airport further to the south.
From 15.000 inhabitants in the 30’s, the city has now a population of 400.000, to which should be added the 100.000 inhabitants of Kuta and the urbanized Nusa Dua area. After the enlargement of the Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar became the capital city of the region of Bali in 1958.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of Denpasar is the way it intermingles “tradition and modernity”. The old agrarian kingdoms and villages of the densely populated rice field plain are ensconced in the urban landscape.
While still functioning very much in the traditional way, these “villages of the city” still have their exclusive banjar neighborhood, dance groups, and temple festivals, and their inhabitants often make a living by renting out rooms to newcomers from other regencies and other parts of Indonesia.
This sometimes results in a stunning cohabitation of architectural genres: behind the stem rows of Chinese shops of Jalan Gajah Mada, the old city center, are hidden traditional compounds which have preserved much of their original architecture, and kori gates and temples that give the city a historical look rarely found in other Indonesian cities. As there is no heritage conservation policy at present, there is a real possibility that most of the ancient architecture may find it self revamped in time with concrete modem structures.
Another feature of city growth is its sprawling pattern. Since the road networks are not concentrated near the original urban nucleus, urbanization follows the main roads out of the city, while leaving untouched large expanses of rice-growing areas. Thus there are untouched rice fields in the middle of the city and housing projects 20 km away!
Scarcity of land is also creating architectural oddities. The city inhabitants do not have room anymore to build the whole set of buildings of the traditional Balinese compound. They have to make do with less. Some build smaller shrines from which they address at a distance, the ancestors of their village of origin, while others build their set of shrines on the second or third floor. The desire to keep architecture, at least outwardly Balinese, remains. For want of a real Balinese house, many will make do with Balinese decorative roof elements or with carved panels illustrating the great myths of the local tradition such as the Ramayana and Mahabhrata. The result is somewhat odd, but it has its own, unique charm.
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