Religious and Cultural Meanings in the Lighting of the Worship Room of the Denpasar Holy Spirit Cathedral in Bali from the People's Perception

Abstract

In Catholic teaching, light is a fundamental design element. The symbolic function of light in the worship space illustrates the relationship between humans and the Creator. The Holy Spirit Cathedral Denpasar building is designed to be able to facilitate worship activities in conveying religious and cultural meaning through the presence of its lighting design. This meaning plays a significant role in shaping the atmosphere of the sacred space that is felt by the people when the liturgical procession takes place. This study aims to understand the role of light in the worship space of the Holy Spirit Cathedral Denpasar in Bali to be understood by the people. The data collection technique used was in the form of observation at the Holy Spirit Cathedral Denpasar, when interviews and questionnaires were distributed to the people and priests as space users. The sampling technique of the study is purposive sampling on certain subject groups, namely Catholics with Balinese ethnicity and non-Balinese ethnicities aged over 17 years. Differential Semantic measurement scale is used to tabulate field data obtained from distributing questionnaires to respondents. The results of this study indicate that the presence of light in the Denpasar Holy Spirit Cathedral Church can communicate well the religious meaning and cultural meaning that the church wants to convey. Thus, the people can feel the spiritual experiences and actively participate when following the course of the worship procession

Keywords: Balinese Culture, Artificial Light, Holy Spirit Cathedral Church Denpasar, Meaning

DOI: 10.7176/ADS/100-03

Publication date: April 30^th 2022