Sacred placemaking in a Muslim minority setting: a contemporary dynamic of Islam in a North Bali village, Indonesia

This article examines a contemporary Muslim sacred placemaking in a predominantly Balinese Hindu society in the largest Muslim country Indonesia. Through a series of ethnographic fieldworks, it specifically addresses the practice of the sacred placemaking in a remote Muslim village Pegayaman in North Bali. The article argues that a recently invented narrative about the seventeenth century founder of Buleleng Kingdom, King Panji Sakti, is essential in the practice of Muslim sacred placemaking. Miraculous stories and place-centred religious rituals are important elements in the making of the sacred place. It further argues that Muslim sacred placemaking in contemporary Bali reverberates the minority’s struggle for claiming the indigeneity of Islam on the island and serves as a symbolic solution for the Muslim minority group in the predominantly Balinese Hindu society and culture in the largest Muslim country Indonesia.