The busy town of Tabanan is a melting pot, with migrants from Java establishing a community here. And the blending of the cultures is very obvious especially at night time.
In addition to the Balinese Hindu temples, mosques are decorating a good part of Tabanan. At night time you can spot the Tabanan muslim residents making their way to the house of worship to pray. This religious activity is very observable especially since the town’s bigger mosques are located by the roadside.
Indeed, night markets are huge attractions for the locals. The multicultural Tabanan is also apparent at these markets such as Pasar Senggol Tabanan on Gajah Mada Street. Most of the food sellers at the night market, if not all, are muslim migrants from Java, offering a plethora of dishes typical to their Java hometowns such as Bakso Solo meatballs and Sate Madura chicken and goat satays. And whenever there’s a ceremony taking place in the nearby Hindu temple, you can see the local Balinese residents in their traditional attires flocking the market, having their meal served by their veiled Muslim friends.
And just like the night market in Kreneng, Denpasar, there’s a whole host of other vendors selling lots of other goods at Pasar Senggol Tabanan. You can find shoes and sandals, t-shirts and shorts, electronics, homewares, women’s accessories, and even gold fish and mini aquariums. Children, too, find this night spot an amusement, for they can play on the slide with crush-proof plastic balls on the bottom, or fish the baby catfish (take home whatever you can fish) – in addition to the toy vendors, of course.
Anyway, also quite a sight at night time in Tabanan, especially for the visitors, are the brilliant Balinese art works in the form of the statues that are placed on a number of roundabouts and the roads in the town area. The colourful night lights set to hit these statues make them impressive objects to marvel at.
If you’re interested to check out the night market scenes in Tabanan then we recommend you to come early at around 5pm. This way you can also visit Pasar Kodok on Turi Street, a market with stalls selling used clothing items (sometimes from international designer brands) such as pants, shirts, belts, and leather jackets amongst many other items. Many of these stalls are closed at around 6pm, with some still open up until around 8pm.
