Bali beyond the beaches
Friday, September 22nd, 2006 by Gin Simpson‘AN anthropologist came to our village and I helped him take blood samples from all the villagers,” Sadra loves to explain gravely. “We sent the samples to laboratories in Europe, Australia and America. The results were all the same.”
He punches the air triumphantly: “We have blood from India!”
The villagers of Tenganan Pegringsingan have long believed this to be so and the test results validate their claim to be descended from one of Bali’s oldest races. Traditionally the home of warriors, the village, near Candidasa, on Bali’s east coast, has retained customs and beliefs now very different from the rest of the island. The best archeological guesses estimate that the village dates from the 11th century, though not even Sadra, regarded as the local historian, can be sure.
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