Balinese Architecture. Julian Davison

with the male ancestors of the household, while Wisnu is identified with the female ancestors. A Balinese man should build one of these shrines when he marries.

      The sanggah kamulan stands in the kaja-kangin corner of the temple enclosure, together with other ritual structures dedicated to Mother Earth (Ibu Pretiwi) and to the sacred mountains of the island, Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur. The rice goddess, Sri, shares a shrine (panegtegan) with the deities of wealth and knowledge, Rambut Sedana and Saraswati, respectively. There may also be an altar dedicated to the sun god, Surya.

      Other ritual structures can also be located in the kaja-kangin corner of the temple enclosure, dedicated to one or more of several different gods and goddesses. These structures vary according to the status of the head of the family but are often simple, thatch-roofed structures. There will also be a number of brick and sandstone columns around the compound where offerings can be placed for the spirits who guard the home and its occupants.

      Sleeping, Eating, and Bathing

      The Balinese compound appears to lack what Western visitors would recognize as adequate provision for sleeping, eating, and bathing. The head of the family sleeps in the most prestigious pavilion in the compound, the umah meten, which he inherits from his parents when they die, situated along the kaja wall of the central courtyard. Children and their mothers tend to sleep in the bale sakepat, but other family members sleep wherever they choose—typically in one of the open-sided pavilions around the central courtyard (natar) or the platform beneath the rice granary. There are seldom any bathing facilities within the compound, though piped water has altered the situation in recent years, and people take their bath in rivers, water conduits and specially constructed bathing pools.

      The salients at the four corners of the compound are intended to impede bad feelings arising within the compound from being broadcast abroad and, conversely, to prevent malign influences from entering from outside. These bastions against the passage of malevolency in and out of the compound are called paduraksa. Padu means “corner” and raksa means “guardian.”

      Layout of a Residential Compound

      1 Entrance.

      2 Aling-aling, or “blind” wall.

      3 Natar or latar, a level, open yard in the center of the compound, which is kept free of built structures.

      4 Sanggah, or family temple.

      5 Umah meten, a sleeping pavilion for the head of the family.

      6 Bale tiang sanga, a pavilion for receiving guests.

      7 Bale sakepat, a pavilion where children and other junior members of the family sleep.

      8 Bale sakenam, traditionally a place where women do their weaving.