The Architecture of the Car-Shaped Altar: Anomaly in the Ideological Vehicle of the Gods at Paluang Temple, Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

This study describes the architecture iconic car-shaped shrine at Pura Paluang Nusa Penida, Bali. The car-shaped shrine is a manifestation of God's vehicle, which has the title Ida Bhatara Ratu Gede Sakti Ngurah and Hyang Mami or Lord Shiva and Durga. The altar resembles a Jeep Jimny and a VW Beetle. This architectural form is what distinguishes it from mainstream cult architectural works in Bali. This study aims to reveal the phenomenon of cultural anomalies based on the ideology of the vehicle of the gods on the car-shaped altar. This study also reveals the process of meaning and local elites who capture ideological knowledge on the car-shaped altar, to use power through cultural discourse. This study uses a qualitative method with an interpretive descriptive approach. Primary data was obtained through observation and interviews with informants determined by purposive sampling, and secondary data through literature study. Data analysis with the post-structuralism approach, Foucault's power genealogy methodology, and theory of discourse-power-knowledge relations are also from Foucault. The results of the study show that the dominance of the discourse of local elites in Karang Dawa Nusa Penida causes the ideology of traditional sign language about the vehicle of the gods to be exceeded, and the symptoms of cultural anomalies are strengthened through the power-knowledge-truth relation. The cultural discourse has disciplined the local community and people outside Nusa Penida, to attend prayers or to travel to Paluang Temple.