Although the Balinese use the term desa fairly indiscriminately to refer to any one aspect of their village, for analytical purposes, a distinction is made here between
the desa which consists in the residential settlement and the
desa adat which is primarily a social construct organized as
an ancestral group. The desa of Piling is separated on the eastern side from the neighbouring desa of Mengesta and Kedampal by the river Yeh Pawal, and on the western side from Wangaya Cede, Penggangahan and Tengkudak by the river Yeh
Pusut. To the north, the territory of Piling is encased
between those of Jatiluih and Wangaya Gede which meet about three kilometers north of the residential village, and the villages of Mongan and Asah to the south. In 1916, Piling, Mengesta and Kadampal were amalgamated into the administrative structure (desa dinas) bearing the name of Mengesta, the
village where the office of the leader of the desa dinas
(pendesa) is found. The desa dinas is sub-divided into
administrative hamlets or dusun which correspond to the traditional residential hamlet or banjar in each of the three
desa. Partly because of the spatial distance between the
three desa which prevents the development of daily interactions among their respective populations and partly because of the strong banjar endogamy which characterizes the mountain villages in this area of Bali, the desa dinas does not play a large role in the life of the Piling villagers whose interactions with the population of Mengesta and Kadampal are still extremely limited and highly formalized. There is some overlapping between the dusun which is in theory part of the administrative structure, and the banjar which is primarily a unit of solidarity since the two units both refer to the same residential hamlet and the dusun is gradually taking over some of the tasks previously performed by the
banjar such as the upkeep of the roads and communally owned
facilities2 .
The residential area of Piling takes up about one-third of the total land, the remainder being divided between rice fields (2/3rd of the arable land) irrigated by the subak of Piling, and plantations and gardens (l/3rd). The rice fields are set in terraces cut along the sun-exposed slopes of the volcanic ridges while the plantations and gardens follow the shaded but fertile corridors between the ridges. Although located some ten kilometers further up inside the volcano, some uncleared forest land attached to Pura Manik Selaka and Pura
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is classified as governmental land and is placed under the administration of the Kantor Perhutanan in Penebel.
The desa is made up of two residential hamlets or banjar, Piling Kawan (West Piling) and Piling Kanginan (East Piling) (cf. map) separated by about one kilometer of road. Piling Kawan is the earliest settlement and lies north/west of Piling Kanginan which underwent a demographic expansion as a result of the massive migrations of people from Gunung Batur following the volcanic eruption and earthquake of 19173 and the re-location of Protestant families on the outskirts of the village. Each banjar consists of two rows of houseyards
(pakarangan) , laid out on either side of the road. Several
clusters of houseyards scattered in the midst of the rice fields (pondok), although not strictly speaking part of the residential settlement, are nevertheless included into the
banjar.
The houseyard (pakarangan) is the smallest residential unit, consisting of a space delineated by four walls often non contiguous4 , within which are found a temple (sanggah) dedicated to the ancestors of the houseyard, the sleeping quarters (meten) of one or several households (kurenan), their kitchen(s) (paon), granary(ies) (lumbung or jineng5) and a
large open-sided building (bale dangin) where the eldest generation sleeps, most of the socializing takes place and the ancestral heirloom : lontar manuscripts, keris and other
objects, are kept. It is usual to have only one kitchen when no more than two households share the same houseyard. Beyond this, cooking becomes a problem and each household builds its
G A R D E N S PILING KAW AN j g j P j l X RICE FIELDS RICE FIELDS PIUNG KA N G INAN RICE FIELDS RICE FIELDS -i ToKectarr: Monger CAIHOOC Protestant Graveyarc Protestant PttOTBTAWT To Penet: RICE HELDS
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own kitchen. As a rule two households can manage to share the same sleeping quarters and kitchen if they belong to two different generations, i.e. the parents plus one married child and family. If the two households are of the same generation, i.e. two siblings and their families, the houseyard space is divided in two, each family with its own sleeping quarters and kitchen6 . One unvarying rule is that there should be no more than one sanggah, as there cannot be more than one ancestral line, per houseyard. Two sanggah mean that we are in presence of two separate houseyards even when no dividing walls are built. When a man has two wives, each wife has her own kitchen, sleeping quarters and sanggah1.
Sociologically the desa is organized dualistically, per
banjarQ . This is expressed in the attribution of male and
female values to each banjar : perhaps because it is the earlier settlement, Piling Kawan is considered male (banjar
muani) and Piling Kanginan female (banjar luh)9 . This
qualitative distinction between the two banjar is congruent with the strong banjar endogamy shown on the table below. The geographical lay-out of each banjar, consisting of compact residential units separated by one kilometer of road which people are loath to walk at night, further increases the feeling of social distance between the residents of Piling Kawan and those of Piling Kanginan and no doubt contributes to maintaining the endogamous status quo.