COMMODIFICATION OF CUTURAL HERITAGE AS TOURIST ATTRACTION AT PENATARAN SASIH TEMPLE, PEJENG, GIANYAR Anak Agung Gd Raka I Wayan Ardika Anak Agung Bagus Wirawan I Ketut Setiawan Faculty of Letters, Warmadewa University, Denpasar e-mail: dapurpoleng@gmail.com ABSTRACT Penataran Sasih Temple with the cultural heritage it has is located at Pejeng Village, Gianyar, and is commodified as a tourist attraction. There are three problems which are formulated in the present study. They are (1) what was the cultural heritage which Penataran Sasih Temple, Pejeng, Gianyar, has like; (2) how the process of commodification of the cultural heritage which the Penataran Sasih Temple has took place; (3) what were the impact and meaning of the commodification of the cultural heritage which the Pentaran Sasih Temple has on the people living at Pejeng Village. In general, this present study is intended to identify the commodification of the cultural heritage which the Penataran Sasih Temple has. In particular, this present study is intended to identify the form of the commodification of the cultural heritage, understand the process of the commodification, and explain the impact and meaning of the commodification. The qualitative method was used in the present study. The data were collected through observation, in-depth interview, and library research. The data were analyzed descriptively and qualitatively. It could be inferred that the cultural heritages included (a) the kettledrum “Bulan Pejeng”, the other cultural heritages, and the religious ritual; (b) the commodified cultural heritages were distributed by the government, profit organizations, academicians, and traditional organizations; and (c) the commodified cultural heritages were consumed by the local society, non Balinese society, and international society. Keywords: commodification, cultural heritage, tourist attraction INTRODUCTION The commodification of cultural heritages in the globalization era is common in Bali. As a product of global cultural product, commodification surpasses the boundaries of traditional territories (Salazar, 2006: 188), what is sacred and what is profane. It is indicated by the fact that there are many cultural heritages which are used as cultural heritages. The global culture which uses money as the social strength can shake the attitude and behavior of the local people who are strong enough to conserve the local wisdom (Hoed, 2011: 211). The capitalistic culture has caused the cultural heritage to be commodified. Such a phenomenon has taken place at the Penataran Sasih Temple. Based on such a phenomenon, this present study discusses the cultural heritages which are commodified as tourist attractions. The title of the study is “Commodification of the cultural heritage as a tourist attraction at Penataran Sasih Temple, Pejeng, Gianyar”. In general, this present study is intended to identify and understand the commodification of the cultural heritage at Penataran Sasih Temple. It has been intentionally produced as a commodity which contains what is intended by power. In particular, this present study is intended to identify the form of commodification, the process how it took place, and its impact and meaning on the people living at Pejeng Village. In theory, it was expected that the result of the present study could find new findings which can enrich the scientific treasure; and in practice, it was expected that the result of the present study could give information to the local people, those who are responsible for maintaining the temple, the village’s leaders, and the Hindu leaders on the existence of the cultural heritage in the globalization era and on how to manage it as a sustainable tourist attraction. RESEACH METHOD In this present study, the critical qualitative approach was used, meaning that various phenomena were thoroughly observed and listened to. The critical research method was used to collect, process, and analyze the data. During the process of collecting the data, various phenomena in the field were critically observed, questions were critically addressed, and informants were critically listened to. In addition, references were also critically referred to. The data were accurately analyzed to make them valid. DISCUSSION Commodification is a phenomenon which is interesting to be talked about in the current era. The reason is that commodification presents something which is unique, making it different from what happened in the previous eras. Commodification is stated to be unique as the commodity which is used to attain money is something which is new. Such a commodity is not limited to the control over manpower, product, and service but also includes other aspects. The things which were not used as commodities are then used as commodities and include education, religious symbols, death, and parts of the human body. However, the fact that people would like to have better and greater lives have been responsible for this (Benjamin in Jenny Edkins-Nick Voughan Williams, 2010: 112), meaning that money is used as their social strength. Such a thing has happened to the Balinese people, especially those who live at a tourist destination. The globalized cultural tradition has caused the local people’s attitude and behavior to change, from the social religious attitude and behavior into the social economic attitude and behavior (Ardika, 2015: ix), meaning that the local people, including those living at Pejeng Village, have been affected by the capitalistic culture. The products which are used as commodities are (a) the kettledrum “Bulan Pejeng” with its uniqueness (Kempers, 1960: 63; Bintaro, 1985: 86), which is supported by the myth entitled “Ratu Bintang” that the kettledrum was a moon falling down from the sky; such a myth is narrated in the forms of books, articles, journals, brochures, inscriptions, the social media texts; (b) the Penataran Sasih Temple (10-23 AD) (Stutterheim in Semadi Astra, 2013: 3) with its what is locally referred to as tri mandala (Goris, 2012: 34), status and function of the temple; (c) the other cultural heritages; and (d) the religious ritual which is locally referred to as maplengkungan with its various processions. The cultural heritage is distributed and promoted to consumers by four helix; they are (a) the government with its related departments; (b) profit organizations such as television, social media, printed media and so forth; and non media such as Asita, travel agencies, the Indonesian Association of Tour Guides, hotels, and so forth; (c) both national and international intellectuals through the articles they have written; and (d) traditional villages through social media such as internet. Consumption refers to the process of consuming commodities by consumers or those who consume them. The consumers which are intended to be the target are foreign tourists, meaning an attempt is made to invite as many tourists as possible to Penataran Saih Temple. The fact shows that the tourists who have visited the Penataran Sasih Temple are dominated by the European ones. The commodification of the cultural heritage which the Pentaran Sasih Temple has is accordance with what space and time demand for through a relatively long process. The existence of foreign tourists with their modern cultures can affect the attitude and behavior of the local people who are strong enough to conserve the originality of their traditional culture. This is exemplified by the attitude and behavior of the local people who welcome the tourists who visit the Pentaran Sasih Temple. Initially, the local people welcome them friendly and traditionally. However, then the visit made by the tourists is commercialized (Pitana, 2005: 83). The local people needed money as the capital needed to renovate the temple; as a result, the temple was intensively managed and commodified. What had been commodified was not limited to the cultural heritage but also what is locally referred to as the temple’s nista mandala which functions as the public space; as a result, at the nista mandala a shopping center, a parking lot, and a night market were constructed. The commodification of the cultural heritage significantly positively and negatively affected the existence of the Pentaran Sasih Temple (Ardika, 2007: 35). The positive impact was that commodification generated money which was needed to organize the development of the Pentaran Sasih Temple, the maintenance of the shrines ‘palinggih’, and management of the temple’s environment, and so forth. The negative impact included the fact that the temple became profane as the tourists were allowed to enter what is locally referred to as utama mandala; their personalities had not been identified; the nista mandala (the outside yard of the temple) was transformed into the business center, causing the concept of the temple’s tri mandala to be degraded. Commodification could also have positive meaning; (a) it gave educational information, indicated by an attempt made to trace the origin, status, and function of the cultural heritage; social religious life; the social, cultural and political life of the local people; (b) the symbolic meaning, which was contributed by the uniqueness of the kettledrum “Bulan Pejeng” and the religious ritual “maplengkungan”. The tourists could see that Pejeng Village functioned as the center of the past civilization; (c) the aesthetic meaning; as can be seen from the form and decorating pattern of the kettledrum “Bulang Pejeng”, which can show that the art, cultural and technological civilization of Pejeng Village was so high in the past; and (d) the economic meaning; all the assets were managed by the traditional village, meaning that the local people’s prosperity was becoming improved. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Several conclusions can be drawn from the present study; they are (1) the forms of the commodification included (a) the kettledrum “Bulan Pejeng”, which is supported by the “Bulan Pejeng” myth which was written in the forms of books, journals, articles, and so forth; and the religious ritual; (b) the commodified cultural heritage which was distributed by the government, profit organizations, intellectuals, and traditional villages, and (c) the commodified cultural heritage which was consumed by the local people, those coming from the other parts of Indonesia, and (d) the international society; (2) the process of the commodification started from when a foreign researcher who visited the temple was traditionally welcome by the local people; however, then such a visit was commodified; (3) the commodification of the cultural heritage also had several meanings; they are : it gave educational information on the social, religious, cultural, and political life in the past; the meaning of symbolic image; the aesthetic meaning; and the economic meaning especially for the local people. The kettledrum “Bulan Pejeng” contains historical, cultural, scientific, and religious values. It is also unique; therefore, it can attract whoever observes it. Therefore, through this opportunity, it is suggested to the traditional leaders that they should urge the local people to be responsible for looking after and conserving such a cultural heritage. Not only the cultural heritage which the Penataran Sasih Temple has which should be conserved, but the cultural heritages which are located in the other parts of Pejeng Village as well. This is one of the attempts made to strengthen the existence of Pejeng Village as the zone of conservation and cultural heritages. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Through this opportunity, the writer would like to thank Prof. Dr. I Wayan Ardika, M.A., and Dr. I Gede Mudana, M.Si for their suggestions related to the completion of this present study. 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