Additional information
by Jörg Hauser (Other), Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin (Author)
The "World Temple" Pura Ulun Danu Batur embodies the still active volcano and its lake. It constitutes the linchpin between the visible and invisible world that has been a contested centre of power by rulers for centuries. The study challenges the claim of the aboriginal-egalitarian Mountain Balinese. Instead, it shows that the temple is the result of colonizing thrusts into the highlands by lowland courts of East-Javanese origin since the 15th century. The pre-existing Buddhist monastery and its counterpart, a king residing near-by, as well as their temples became effaced, villages were merged and Siwaite teachings introduced. The book tells the thrilling story of this fundamental transformation as evidenced in the temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today.
Author Biography
Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, Ph.D. (1975), Habilitation (1985) is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Göttingen (Emerita since 2016). She carried out fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Cambodia. Her recent publications focus on the ritual and political organization of space and on material culture, cultural property, and cultural politics, including Between Harmony and Discrimination. Negotiating Religious Identities within Majority-Minority Relationships in Bali and Lombok (Brill, 2014).
Jörg Hauser is a free-lance photographer who has established visual documentations during the ethnographic fieldwork of Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin since 1972.
