True Tolerance
In contrast to the mostly Hindu population of Bali, the people of the traditional village of Tuka in Badung Regency are Christians. The village has even been dubbed the first Catholic village in the ‘Island of the Gods’. Local residents help one another during the Christmas, Galungan, and even the Kuningan celebrations. They adhere faithfully to their ngejot tradition of strong kinship bonds with those of different faiths. They demonstrate this by bringing each other food on the respective religious festival days. Tuka mirrors acculturation, the adjustment of external elements to local traditions, enriching a spirit of tolerance and pluralism. Tempo reports from Tuka, Bali.
March 7, 2017
Bali's Little Town of Bethlehem
The people of Tuka, a village in Bali, once practiced Hinduism. But since the 1930s, many of Tuka's Hindus converted to Christianity and Catholicism, although they still practice certain rituals to maintain harmony among themselves.
Parishioners entered the Catholic Church of Holy Trinity in the customary village of Tuka, Bali. That afternoon, the worshippers—some of whom were expats—were about to attend a Chri
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