Exploring Trunyan Village Skull Island of Bali

Get chance to be and explore in an unspoilt Trunyan or Terunyan Balinese village ( banjar) located on the eastern shore of Lake Batur, a caldera lake in Kintamani Regency, central Bali, Indonesia. The village is one of the most notable homes of the Bali Aga people. Trunyan is notable for its peculiar treatment of dead bodies, in which they are placed on openly on the ground, simply covered with cloth and bamboo canopies, and left to decompose. The influence of a nearby tree is said to remove the putrid smell of the corpses.

Trunyan is one of the culturally isolated Bali Aga village in Bali. Trunyan village is located on the isolated eastern shore of the crescent-shaped Lake Batur, at the foot of Mount Abang, a peak on the eastern rim of the large caldera. The village is most easily accessible by boat or car.

The people of Trunyan are generally considered to be the Bali Aga people, the mountain Balinese. Unlike the lowland Balinese, Bali Aga people practice ancient rituals which predate the arrival of Hinduism or Buddhism. The Bali Aga of Trunyan are noted for unique traditions, even among the Bali Aga. According to copper plate inscriptions found in one of the shrines of the main temple of Trunyan, the temple dates back to at least the 10th century AD (833 saka). The village is believed to be much older than the temple.