Language contestation at Batukau Temple, Bali (a linguistic landscape study)

Abstract

Batukau temple, a remote Hindu temple on the slope of Mount Batukau, unavoidably undergoes the extending function of the Hindu temple from purely a spiritual site to a spiritual and tourist destination. This additional status as a tourist destination consequently changes the face of the outdoor sign’s language in the temple. This study investigates the current language contestation of the outdoor signs in the temple compared to its original status as a spiritual sanctuary. The data were documented through the direct observation method with photographic techniques. At the same time, the comparative data of the previous condition were collected from various public online sources. The result shows that Balinese script presentation is less salient than the roman script. It is treated as a symbolic function to emphasise Bali’s identity in the area. The presence of the Indonesian and English languages is highly dependent on their message and location. They play their roles in non-spiritual related outdoor signs, such as informational signs on environmental, education, sanitation issues and prohibition signs related to the temple’s status as a sacred place. Furthermore, all languages are used in Covid-19 prevention signs.

Keywords:

• linguistic landscape
• Balinese language
• Batukau temple
• outdoor signs

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Linguistic Landscapes (LL) is a new and growing approach to mass communication analysis from the standpoint of outdoor signs. The presence of LL will vary and depends on the language of the certain given territory in a certain respected time frame. This study shows the language contestation in a local site with an international status, which is highly dependent on local/national policy, wisdom, and culture.

1. Introduction

Batukau temple, with its spiritual and sacred atmosphere, is famous for Hindu worshippers from Bali, the surrounding islands and national/international tourists. Due to its new status as a tourist destination, the temple’s management maintains the sacred atmosphere amidst worshippers and tourists from various cultural and language backgrounds. The most significant effort is the placing of public signs in various languages. The public signs are the guidance of the worshippers and visitors to know the norms for joining or witnessing the spiritual activities at the site.

The public signs construct the temple’s linguistic landscape (LL), which functions as informational and symbolic resources (Landry & Bourhis, 1997). LL study, which has been fast growing in the last twenty years, covers languages on public signs in a certain territory (Amara, 2019; Lavender, 2020; Purnanto & Ardhian, 2020; Zhang & Chan, 2017). Unlike other LL studies, the public signs at the Batukau temple are not confined to spiritual activities only but extend to tourism and environmental problems. Furthermore, after the Covid-19 pandemic breakout, hygiene has become another important concern for entering the temple, as depicted in the public signs.

Concerning the public signs in sacred areas, some studies have been conducted all over the globe. Coluzzi and Kitade (2015) investigated the LL of various worship places in Kuala Lumpur. They found that English as a symbol of modernity and cosmopolitanism is rarely used in worship places. The sign makers highlight their ethnicity and are closely connected to their religious beliefs using typical languages that correspond to the religions. Then, Alsaif Ali and Starks (2020) investigated the sacred and banal domains in the Grand Mosque of Mecca using the Fishmanian perspective to comprehend language choice in multilingual contexts. It was found that the linguistic landscape of the Mosque of Mecca covers the diverse and interconnected clusters of people, languages, sounds, artifacts, and activities. It also provides a glimpse of the intersection of the sacred and the banal in this large public space. In the Indonesian context, an LL research was conducted by Ardhian et al. (2021) concerning the worship signs in Malang City. The finding shows that Indonesian is the language of the worship places supported by Indonesia’s language policy. In some places, the Indonesian language is found to be combined with English to boost the ideologies of the religions. The local languages play the subordinate role that merely represents religion and ethnicity’s identity. Those three pieces of research show that the use of different languages in worship places is a recent issue. Different locus shows a typical use of languages that are interconnected to the spiritual activities and the supporting elements at the places.

The language contestation on public signs of religious places in Bali is not yet a concern of LL researchers. The latest trend of LL research in Bali is still concentrated on the LL of tourist sites (see, for instance, Artawa & Sartini, 2018; Mulyawan, 2020, 2021). Those researches reveal the marginalisation of the Balinese language and scripts in Bali public space amidst the massive use of Indonesian and English. The Balinese language is rarely used in Bali’s public space and tends to be spoken in the family domain only (Permanadeli et al., 2016). Further investigation on tourism development that penetrates the Hindu people’s spiritual life is required to obtain a complete LL insight into Bali through its language and scripts. LL is a linguistic point of view that is complicated and interdisciplinary (Barni & Bagna, 2015). One potential issue to be investigated is the existence of the Batukau temple as one of the biggest temples in Bali, which has to accommodate the visitors who come to the temples for various purposes. The temple’s function expands not only for spiritual activities but also to become a tourist destination. It necessitates the use of several languages in the temple’s outdoor signs. Commonly, the presence of languages in a community is not socially equal (Lotherington, 2013). The local language exists with its religious identity, the national language grows with its language centralisation ideology, and international languages come with their commercial touch. Furthermore, the local script of Balinese is closely related to other local scripts in Indonesia, especially Javanese, which is also the representation of the Indian Sanskrit as the root of Balinese Hindus culture.

The problem being investigated is the contestation of local language and script with national and international languages, which have their own roles in the temple’s multilingualism. In relation to the issue, the language choice is closely related to the activities conducted in the temple, the ideology, and the government’s language policy. This study elicits the contestation of language at the Batukau temple in terms of its use, function and ideology in the frame of the government’s language policy.

2. Material and method

Batukau temple is officially under the administrative territory of Wangaya Gede village, Penebel sub-district, Tabanan regency, Bali province (see, Figure 1). The temple is located in the centre of Bali Island amidst Batukau natural conservation forest, covering 1,762.80 hectares as stated in Bali Province Regulation no. 16/2009. It is isolated by rainforest, taking about 1,5 km to reach the nearest village community. Based on Bali Province Regulation no. 16/2009 article 83 section 1, the temple is categorised as a social and cultural strategic site. Furthermore, in article 88, it is further emphasised that the temple is dedicated, first, to conserve and develop the local custom and culture, second, to protect the Balinese cultural heritage, and third, as the asset of Balinese culture needs to be protected.

Figure 1. Research location.

Source: https://www.google.com/maps

The temple is not only visited by local Hindus to pray, but it also attracts many people to visit, including domestic and international tourists. Based on the observation, the tourist not only backpackers who came by rental bike but also westerners with arranged travel agents. They came to Batukau Temple not merely as a traveller. Many of them intentionally came to pray as religious visitors. The most crowded situation at the temple happens twice a year during the temple ceremony to witness the cultural event. According to the Centre of Statistic Bureau of Bali (2019), in 2018, 21,214 tourists came to the temple, and the number doubled in 2019 with 39,980 visitors (see, Table 1). The increasing number indicates the temple’s popularity as a cultural tourist destination. The data proves that the Batukau temple is able to blend modern tourism development with Balinese Hindu traditional sacred life.

Table 1. The number of tourists visiting the Batukau temple

Year	Tourists
2018	21,214
2019	39,980
TOTAL	61,194

Source: Centre of Statistic Bureau of Bali (2019)

This study focuses on the language contestation and the scripts displayed on the public signs in the Batukau temple. The temple is chosen among Sad Kahyangan Temples [six sacred temples] in Bali due to its secluded area and is one of the tourist destinations. The contestation is viewed from the language or script presentation and its salient position (Shohamy, 2012). The language presentations are distinguished into monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual. The scripts are differentiated in Balinese script and Roman script based on their font size and placement to determine the salience of the signs. There are three considerations in the data collection and analysis: the clear geographical boundary of the research area, the determined outdoor signs as the subjects of the research, and the way to differentiate the language and script presentations on the signs (Backhaus, 2006). The outdoor signs as the subjects of the study must be located in the temple area to fulfil the geographical boundary category. The outdoor signs are in the form of boards, banners, and monuments that contain sacred and banal information, prohibitions, temple names, section names, and directional information. All these data are considered as the unit analysis in this study. All signs are counted as an independent unit, including identical data, as long as they are placed in a different place or position.

The data was taken using the participant observation method with direct photographing techniques (Gorter, 2018; Kothari, 2004). The data collection was conducted at the peak of the temple ceremony on April 15^th, 2021, to ensure all signs, especially the temporary ones, were installed by the committee. As a comparison of signs’ developments and changes, some data are taken from https://www.google.com/maps and https://www.balipuspanews.com. There 8 temple compounds in the area: (1) Pura Luhur Batukau; (2) Pura Beji Batukau; (3) Pura Pengubengan Batukau; (4) Pura Pekiyisan; (5) Pura Dalem Kayhayangan; (6) Pura Jero Taksu; (7) Pura Penyaum; and (8) Pura Gaduh.

This study implements a mix-method approach, for which the outdoor signs are viewed as a dynamic entity as proposed by Barni and Bagna (2015:11). A quantitative and qualitative approach simultaneously precedes the analysis by classifying and quantifying the occurrence of data in the temple through specific classification presented in tables based on their types, language uses, and scripts. The quantification shows each language’s dominant or marginal position, including the script in the temple public signs. Some words with prime equivalence between Balinese terms and Indonesian are classified based on cultural context (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2016). For instance, the word “pura” is categorised as a Balinese word based on the context of the use and the proper names following the word, which at the same time, it is also representing the Indonesian language term.

The analysis is followed by a qualitative approach to the language contestation of the signs through narrative analysis based on language/script display, position, and function that correspond to culture, identity, education, environment, and health issues. Furthermore, numbers that are not written in words are not counted as a language because the pronunciation of numbers depends on the readers’ language. For instance, the number “8” will be pronounced as “delapan” in Indonesian, “eight” in English, and “kutus” in Balinese.

3. Theoretical basis

Language contestation is one of the important issues in multilingualism. Different linguistic ideologies in an area compete for being the standard and valued language. Consequently, other languages are placed in the inferior or not-valued language (Lin & Li, 2012). In linguistic landscape, Shohamy (2012) defines that the contestation refers to the claiming of public space, which is related to ownership of public space. Public space is assumed to be a zone that a certain party does not own. The raising issue of contestation in LL is the exclusion and inclusion of certain languages on the public signs, which utilise multimodal and multilingual resources. In such a situation, social and political factors may become essential factors in the contestations (Shohamy, 2012).

Language contestation is connected with identity in a social context, inseparable from a group’s language as its marker (Edwards, 2009). Identity and language are interrelated to human life, including religion, ethnicity, and nationalism. In terms of language and identity of religions, history reveals that certain languages are strongly connected to certain religions and become the symbol of the holiness of the religion. For instance, Arabic is spoken by a limited number of people in Malaysia, but it is psychologically prestigious among the Malay Moslem community due to its religious sense (Coluzzi & Kitade, 2015; Edwards, 2009).

Politically, the language contestation in Indonesia and Bali is determined by regulations issued by the government. Balinese language and scripts are regulated in Governor Regulation of Bali No. 80/2018. The regulation specifically encourages the use of Balinese scripts in public spaces. State and private buildings have to present Balinese scripts transliteration on the top position of their Roman script in the signage. The regulation has a different emphasis from the national language policy, as stated in the President Regulation No. 63/2019. In article 33 of the statute, the Indonesian language should be prominent in public spaces, and the status of the local language is subordinate. It indicates that the local and national language policy may initiate Balinese and Indonesian language contestation in public signages in Bali. However, according to the Balinese authority, the local regulation did not mandate the language translation to Balinese, it is only mandate the use of Balinese script as a transliteration. In other word, the language remains the same as the original one, yet the script are changed to Balinese script from roman script.

On the other hand, the presence of English as means of public mass communication through outdoor signs is an eminent effect of globalisation in tourism development. The borderless interaction among people across the globe is unavoidable. In a linguistic context, the status of English as the international language is conventionally accepted by most world communities with the emblem of prestige, high economic status, modernity, high technology, and global orientation embedded in it (Bruyèl-Olmedo & Juan-Garau, 2009; Lanza & Woldemariam, 2014; Sheng & Buchanan, 2019; Vandenbroucke, 2016; Yan, 2019). Specifically, in terms of LL, English has been found as the most common unofficial language which appears on the public signs of the public spaces across the globe (see for instance: Hopkyns et al., 2018; Im, 2020; Lai, 2013; Sakhiyya, 2020). Therefore, the worldwide spread of English is associated with globalisation in which English is used in various domains.

The above theoretical consideration is the combination of linguistic theories on language contestation and the political aspects of the contestation. It supports the data analysis on the language contestation that occurred in the temple since the use of the languages is influenced by various factors ranging from religious, political, social and economic factors.

4. Finding and discussion

Batukau temple has become a multilingual place due to the massive development of tourism in Bali and the impact of the national language policy. The multilingual atmosphere is mostly visible from the public signs in the area. The signs are varied from their types (temple name, section name, prohibition, information, direction), materials used (carved stone, plastic, metal, wood, laminated paper), language presentation (monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual), temporary and permanent purposes, audience (Hindu worshippers and tourists), design (with or without typical Balinese artistic design), location (inside the temple or outside the temple), and the sacred and the banal public signs.

Based on the data collection process, there are 98 outdoor signs found in the temple area. The data is classified into 5 types (see, Table 2). The two highest percentages of the outdoor signs found are informational signs, with 51 signs (52%), followed by prohibition signs with 26 signs (26.5%). It indicates two major possibilities prevented by the temple management: visitors’ confusion and violation of temple sacred norms. The temple is a big temple consisting of one main temple and eight subordinate temples and completed with some sections for supporting activities like art performance, food supply section, caretakers’ secretariat, donation section, restrooms, parking lot, artificial lake, and vegetation information around the temple. Thus, many informational outdoor signs are prepared to avoid the visitors’ confusion. The informational signs also aim to educate the visitors about the temple and the vegetation. The existence of prohibition outdoor signs is a prevention strategy for avoiding unexpected activities of the visitors due to the sacred condition of the temple. Moreover, the prohibition is made to maintain the cleanliness of the temple, especially from plastic trash.

Table 2. The types of outdoor sign

Type	Total	Percentage
Information	51	52
Prohibition	26	26.5
Temple name	10	10.2
Section name	9	9.2
Direction	2	2
TOTAL	98	100

Table 3 presents the language used in the outdoor signs ranging from monolingual to multilingual. In monolingual classification, the Balinese language appears as the most common language used on the outdoor signs with 17 signs (17.3%), followed by monolingual Indonesian with 16 signs (16.3%) and monolingual English with 4 signs (4.1%). In terms of monolingual signs, the Balinese language as the identity of Balinese and Hindus dominates the language used. Afterwards, the monolingual Indonesian, which is only less than 1% of Balinese use, shows that the national identity is also appreciated. At the same time, the presence of Indonesian may become a threat to Balinese as the local language and as a language of cultural identity in Batukau temple. Indonesian appears in monolingual and bilingual compositions on the signs. The temple is a space of Hindu religion that is embedded in the Balinese language. Logically the use of Balinese should be much higher in percentage than the use of Indonesian, but in fact, the percentage is almost equal. It may indicate a process of language shift from total Balinese to Indonesian dominance in the future. Thereafter, the presence of English as a monolingual outdoor sign shows that the temple is open to international visitors. The monolingual English signs also signify that the target readers are international visitors who understand English as the language of globalisation.

Table 3. The language used

Languages	Total	Percentage
Monolingual
Balinese	17	17.3
Indonesian	16	16.3
English	4	4.1
Bilingual
Balinese + Indonesian	21	21.4
Indonesian + English	9	9.2
Balinese + English	1	1
Multilingual	30	30.6
TOTAL	98	100

In terms of bilingual signs, the composition of Balinese and Indonesian signs dominates the classification with 21 signs (21.4%), followed by Indonesian and English with 9 signs (9.2%) and Balinese and English with only 1 sign (1%). In this monolingual classification, the Balinese language holds the most dominant language used combined. In terms of language presentation, the bilingual data showed that the Balinese language is the salience language, and it is written on top of the others (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). The pattern is also found in other parts of Bali, especially in Kuta (Mulyawan, 2021), which indicates that protecting the Balinese language and scripts in public areas is a serious concern for the Balinese government. The highest percentage of all signs is multilingual, with 30 signs (30.6%). The language combination includes Balinese, Indonesian, English, and German. The multilingual signs accommodate multilingual readers.

Further analysis showed that the Indonesian language mostly concentrates on non-spiritual parts of the temple like the public signs on trash management, health information, and caution, especially on Covid-19 prevention, environmental information, and a new way of donating using QR codes (see, Figure 2). The pandemic outbreak also influences the outdoor signs in the temple. Outdoor signs on covid-19 prevention are placed in front of the main gate of the temple and some other strategic places.

Figure 2. Data of non-spiritual signs.

The status as a tourist destination influences the number of outdoor signs using English and other foreign languages. The guests are allowed to witness the inner part of the temple and the religious procession directly in the temple’s inner courtyard. However, in some places, it is strictly limited access to tourists. They are permitted to enter the temple but limited to certain areas provided for tourists marked with the prohibition signs. Some examples of the outdoor signs that reflect the presence of international tourists and commercial ideology in the temple are shown in Figure 3. The sign uses English which means the target readers are international visitors. This situation is also found in Kuta, the centre of Bali tourism, in which English is used on most public signs (Artawa & Sartini, 2018; Mulyawan, 2021).

Figure 3. Data of monolingual English signs.

Moreover, the expressions of prohibition are different between English and Balinese. The cultural background influences the degree of the directness of the prohibition. Balinese prohibition tends to use indirect expressions. The readers are expected to grasp the prohibition’s illocutionary force, presented as an informational type of outdoor sign. For instance, the prohibition inside the temple, which is solely dedicated to Balinese Hindu prayer (see, Figure 4), is written in information form using the Balinese high tongue: “wates genah mebakti,” [the limit of praying area]. It is implicitly informed that it is forbidden to enter the area without permission.

Figure 4. Monolingual Balinese sign with vernacular design.

On the contrary, Figure 3 presents the straight-to-the-point prohibition: “do not enter, for prayers only,” “no admittance,” and ‘no trespassing. Those prohibitions reflect western culture, which is more direct than Balinese culture. The indirect Balinese language outdoor signs implement the high context principle, and the English one is strongly based on the low-context cultural principle. The difference between Balinese and English prohibitions is in line with Hall’s cultural theory of high and low context culture; western culture tends to be more direct than Asian culture (Hornikx & le Pair, 2017).

In terms of occurrence, monolingual English signs in Kuta are 25 times higher than monolingual Balinese outdoor signs (Mulyawan, 2021). It shows the high-level impact of market ideology in the area. In contrast, the number of monolingual Balinese signs in the Batukau temple is 4 times higher than that of monolingual English outdoor signs (see, Table 4). It indicates that the Batukau temple effectively maintains the use of the Balinese language towards globalisation’s massive effect on the tourism industry.

Table 4. The language and script presentation

Language Presentation	Script type
	Roman	Balinese + Roman	Roman + Balinese
Monolingual
Indonesian	14	-	2
Balinese	7	8	2
English	4	-	-
Bilingual
Balinese + Indonesian	12	4	-
Indonesian + Balinese	5	-	-
Indonesian + English	5	-	-
English + Indonesian	1	-	3
Balinese + English	1	-	-
Multilingual
Bali+ Latin +Indonesian + English	20	-	-
Indonesian + Balinese+ English	4	-	-
Balinese + Indonesian+ English	3	2	-
English + Indonesian +German	1	-	-
TOTAL	77	14	7

In terms of the script in-used, Table 4 shows that two main scripts were used: Roman script and Balinese script. The analysis showed that Roman scripts are used without Balinese script in 77 outdoor signs out of 98. It dominates the presence of Balinese scripts with only 21 signs. Balinese script above Roman is found on 14 signs, whereas Roman script above Balinese is found on 7 signs. Besides, Roman scripts’ domination is identical to national and global languages used.

Nevertheless, another important finding is the absence of Balinese script in a single presentation. Balinese language in Balinese script is always accompanied by a Roman script transliteration. This fact indicates that Balinese script literacy has become a real threat, in which most Balinese can not read Balinese script. In other words, the presence of Balinese in Roman script accompanying Balinese script is made due to the lack of literacy.

The presence of Balinese script on some outdoor signs tends to be symbolic and political. Symbolically, it symbolises the host identity in the area of which it is a Hindu temple for Balinese Hindus. Its presence is always combined with Roman script transliteration. There is a tendency that the Roman transliteration is intended to play an instrumental role in the public signs since most visitors are able to read the script. Balinese script conveys the sense of Bali-ness. The sign readers, especially the visitors, will perceive the sense of Bali through the presence of the script on the signs. Politically, it promotes Balinese script as mandated in Bali Governor Regulation no. 80/2018 chapter IV article 6 section 1, which significantly supports the Balinese language, including its scripts to regain and maintain its position on the outdoor signs in Batukau temple. This finding is relevant to the findings of some researchers on a similar topic in Kuta as Bali’s centre of tourism area, in which Balinese identity, which is represented in Balinese scripts, has regained its position for being written in on top of Indonesian and various foreign languages (Artawa & Sartini, 2018; Mulyawan, 2021). The language presented in a business area like Kuta aligns with the language presentation in Batukau temple as a sacred spiritual place that also acts as a tourist destination.

Further analysis of script contestation at Batukau outdoors sign showed that the Balinese language is always presented in Balinese and Roman scripts. Both types of scripts are used in most temple name boards. The name boards are presented in vernacular and modern design (Mulyawa, 2019): 1) a typical vernacular design of Balinese architecture using stone/carving (see, Figures 4 and 5); 2) a modern design using metal or acrylic material (see, Figure 6). All these signs are located on the same premises in Batukau Temple. The different names of “Pura” indicate a specific function of a specific shrine in the area.

Figure 5. Monolingual Balinese sign with vernacular design.

Figure 6. Monolingual Balinese sign with modern design and material.

Uniquely, Balinese scripts are written above Roman script in all monolingual Balinese signs with vernacular design. In contrast, the modern design used Romanised script above the Balinese script. Like the previous finding, Balinese scripts in the Batukau temple used Wrehasta scripts, which indicates that the writing is for everyday communication and is not used for religious purposes (Mulyawan, 2021).

Conversely, the script contestation did not stop at script positioning. In some cases, the contestation is fronted up to the visualisation of the font size. Every sign also shows different salience depending on the font size used. Despite being put above the Roman script, in terms of font size and readability, the Balinese script is written in a small font compared to the Roman script. Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) stated that salience is determined by the position of the script, font size, and readability. It signalled that Balinese scripts are the salience of the sign as an identity marker in which it is written above the Roman. In contrast, the Roman script is the salience of the sign based on its font-size and readability compared to the Balinese script. These facts also implied that the Balinese script carried the symbolic functions, whereas the Roman script displayed the informative functions.

This salience is closely related to Balinese scripts’ status as the Balinese language’s identity. The scripts give a typical characteristic of the Balinese language, which is different from Indonesian and foreign languages. Balinese script illiterates will be able to recognise that the writing is something related to the Balinese language by noticing the scripts, so the function of the scripts tends to be symbolic instead of informational. The symbolic function is legalised by Bali governor regulation number 80/2018. The Balinese scripts must be placed above other scripts as a transliteration form from their Roman script.

On the other hand, the Romanised Balinese language accommodates the informational function of the outdoor signs. Many visitors, even Balinese people, are more familiar with Romanised writing due to the writing system’s complexity, practicality, and prestige, which influence the language attitude of the Balinese (Kardana & Sri Satyawati, 2019; Putrayasa, 2016). This finding is supported by the data presented in Table 4, that none of the outdoor signs presents Balinese scripts without the companion of Romanised scripts. In a broader sense, this finding is relevant to the diglossic situation caused by market ideology in the LL of Kuta (Artawa & Sartini, 2018). The absence of Balinese-script-only outdoor signs signals the decreasing literacy of Balinese scripts in the centre of cultural protection like the Batukau temple.

A unique linguistic phenomenon is also presented in Figures 7 and 8. The data on the left is cited from an online source taken in 2018 before Governor Regulation no 80/2018 was issued. Meanwhile, the data on the right was taken during this research on April 15^th, 2021. The data showed significant changes in the addition of Balinese script accompanying the Roman script as mandated by the regulation. Moreover, the changes are not merely about the script used; the design and material are also improved. In Figure 7, the modern design is maintained with a more exclusive style. Although the message is seemingly for tourists, the data in Figure 7 is not designated for tourists since it is located on the inner premises of the temple that are prohibited for tourists. The sign is targeting the prayers to turn off their handphone, whereas the use of the Indonesian language is an acknowledged fact that the prayers are not only local Balinese and it is accompanied by Balinese script as part of the implementation of the new regulation.

Figure 7. Data from 2018 (left) and data from 2021 (right).

Source: https://www.google.com/maps and authors

Figure 8. Data from 2018 (left) and data from 2021 (right).

Source: https://www.balipuspanews.com and authors

However, in Figure 8, the changes are more extensive from modern design to vernacular design in representing Balinese culture signature through stone-carving material. Besides, the multilingual—Balinese, Indonesian, and English—languages used are parts of commodification to indicate that Batukau temple is an international tourist destination that fairly accommodates national and international languages. Conclusively, the language policy effectively improves the symbolic function of Balinese scripts in public space as the local identity.

5. Conclusion

Based on the foregoing discussion, the language contestation in Batukau temple showed significant results in its status as a Balinese sanctuary temple and international tourist destination. There are three languages used in the temple that is Balinese, Indonesian, and English. Those languages serve different functions depending on their placement and context, as shown in Table 2. All of them are written in the Roman script, except for the Balinese language is represented in Roman and Balinese scripts (see, Table 4). The Balinese language is mostly used in monolingual signs, and it is also dominated in terms of its script as a transliteration of the languages (see, Table 3).

The most important finding that should become a concern is the absence of Balinese-script-only outdoor signs, although they are still intensely used in all the temple areas (see, Figures 4–8). It is undebatable that Balinese scripts are the Balinese language’s identity that contributes to maintaining Balinese culture. The Balinese language serves the informative functions when written in Roman scripts and the symbolic function when written in Balinese scripts (see, Figures 7 and 8).

Some LL linguists found that the national language policy and the commodification of English as the global lingua franca marginalised the existence of the Balinese language as an important aspect of local identity (Artawa & Sartini, 2018; Mulyawan, 2021). Their findings show Indonesian and English’s massive influence on the LL of Bali’s touristic area. Batukau temple is also a touristic destination, but the religious atmosphere prevents a similar impact of tourism on the language contestation. In Batukau temple, the Balinese language is embedded with the Hindu religion, and it still dominates the LL language contestation. The existence of the Indonesian language does not threaten the Balinese language. The language is used on the non-spiritual outdoor signs, often combined with English and Balinese scripts, whereas English is predominantly used as an informative sign to guide foreign visitors. The use of the language is also limited to tourist information and prohibition only (see, Figure 3). It proved the ideological impact of the Government policy, in which the local government also protects the Balinese language and script in public spaces through Bali Governor Regulation no. 80/2018.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

I Wayan Mulyawan

I Wayan Mulyawan and I Nyoman Suparwa are state lectures in the Faculty of Humanities at Udayana University Bali. I Made Suta Paramarta is a lecturer in the Faculty of Languages and Arts of Ganesha University of Education, Bali. They shared a common interest in Linguistic Landscapes (LL) study. They have published various independent research on LL. This year they collaborated to conduct an intensive study of language contestation in Bali. Batukau temple is one of their joint research.