RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AMONG URBAN HINDU COMMUNITIES IN DENPASAR IN THE MODERN AND DIGITAL ERA
Abstract
Denpasar City, an urban center in Bali, provides an important context for examining the interaction between Hindu religious traditions, urbanization, modernity, and digitalization. This study examines transformations in religious expression, changes in ritual practices, the role of the nuclear family, intergenerational dynamics, and the use of digital media among urban Hindu communities. It employs a descriptive qualitative approach through library research, drawing on sociological and anthropological perspectives on religion. Literature was selected according to its relevance to Balinese Hinduism, urban religious practices, modernization, intergenerational relations, and digital religion. Selection criteria included identifiable authorship, credible publication sources, and sufficient conceptual or empirical evidence. The analysis followed three interconnected procedures: data reduction, thematic presentation, and conclusion drawing with verification, informed by Miles and Huberman’s analytical framework. The reviewed literature documents adjustments in Hindu marriage rituals in Denpasar associated with globalization, consumer culture, media, and individualism (Lazuardi et al., 2025). Research on digital Hinduism in Bali also identifies social media as a space for representing sacred practices and negotiating religious authority (Putra, 2026). The synthesis indicates that religious expression is better understood as a process of adaptation and negotiation than as a uniform decline in religiosity. Digital media may expand access to religious information and new forms of religious representation, although their effects on spiritual engagement and communal participation require further empirical investigation. This study contributes a contextual synthesis connecting urban transformation, ritual adaptation, intergenerational continuity, and digital mediation in understanding Hindu religious expression in contemporary Bali.
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