Bali Aga

Photography and article by Peter Hemenway

This is a photograph of Lake Batur, the largest lake of Bali with Mount Batur in the background. The local people consider the lake a sacred site. It was created from an eruption in 1971.

Trunyan, is one of the small villages on the lake, which is one of the notable homes of the original Bali Aga people- the first people and villages of this area that date back to at least 900 C.

There are is clusters of habitants in the same area on the Eastern shores. The people are known for exposing their dead in an open area and letting the corpses rot as part of the culture.

A scenic view showing a typical boat. The water area is about six square miles.

Aga people’s traditional village

Bala Aga women from Trunyan in her small boat.

A branch from the mysterious Tara Menyan tree leads into where crops are located.

A corpse is rapped in a blanket and its skull exposed.

Tara Menyan tree that branches out and mysteriously prevents odors of the rotting dead.