The Balinese do not live in houses in the conventional sense of the word. Instead, they divide their daily activities between a number of different pavilions which are situation within a family compound that is secluded from the outside world by a high wall.
Although these living arrangements may seem at first to be fairly haphazard affair, they are actually grounded in a complex metaphysical system which provides a cosmological framework for maintaining harmonious relations between man and the rest of the universe.
Similarly, each temple of the tens of thousands scattered throughout the island is like a model of the universe in miniature, reflecting Balinese assumptions about the nature of the universe and man's place in relation to the gods, the ancestors, and the rest of the world.
Rank and social status, the needs of the village and the extended family, and the tropical climate also play a part in determining the architecture of the island.
