Avans Tour Guide

From the village of Marga, the trip west returns to the main route leading to Tabanan. At the crossroads of Kediri, a side-road branches to the sea, ending on a green hill which slopes down to the beach and to the remarkable temple of Tanah Lot, suspended on a huge rock offshore. Set apart from the land by a stone basin, the rock has been carved by incoming tides. Tanah Lot, with its solitary black towers and tufts of foliage spilling over the cliffs, recalls the delicacy of a Chinese painting. If hearsay is to be believed, there dwells inside one of the shrines at Tanah Lot a huge snake, discreetly left undisturbed by the Balinese.

Although a small sanctuary, Tanah Lot is linked to a series of sea temples on the south coast of Bali: Pura Sakenan, Pura Ulu Watu, Pura Rambut Siwi and Pura Peti tenget. All these temples are related to the principal mountain sanctuaries: Besakih at Gunung Agung, Pura Batur at Batur and Plura Luhur at Mt. Batukau. The upland temples venerate deities associated with mountains and mountain lakes, while the sea temples include homage to the guardian spirits of the sea within their ritual. These main temples are often listed with the sad-kahyangan the six holy "national" temples, which exact tribute from all Balinese. The chronicles attribute the temple at Tanah Lot to the 16th century priest Nirartha.

During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bringing gifts, invited him to stay at their hut. Nirartha refused, saying he preferred to spend the night on the little island. That evening he spoke to the fishing folk and advised them to build a shrine on the rock, for he felt it to be a holy and fitting place to worship God. The villagers kept their promise. The beaches of Tanah Lot are ideal for relaxing, especially in the late afternoons, when the temple on the rock dissolves into a striking silhouette against the evening sky.

Target out of the landscape by tides, wind and rain, the high off shore sentinel rock of Tanah Lot. Supports a picturesque see temple, which cans small here ached by a scramble over the wet rocks.

This Temple was built in the 15th century by the priest, Pedanda Bahu Rawuh or Danghyang Nirartha from Majapahit Jawa. Near this Temple there are several small and big shrines, the biggest one is Pekendungan Temple. There is a spring considered sacred not far from this temple.

Tanah Lot is 13 km from Tabanan is Beraban village. When the tide is low people can walk to the temple. It looks like a floating one if the tide is high. There are many caves under the temple lived by the peaceful sea snakes, which has white and black colors.

It's located 16 kilometers west of International Airport Ngurah Rai, or a 20 minutes drive through Sunset Road. Coming in from Java Island through Gilimanuk, and arriving at the Kediri intersection, at the Wisnu Murthi statue, turn right. In front of the Kediri police Station, turn left, and keep following this smooth road. In less than 10 minutes you will be there.

From the highest point on the mountain pass, 1,220 meters above sea level, a spectacular descent brings you to the northern coast at Singaraja, capital of Buieleng regency. Buieleng is a strip of land that stretches along the whole northern coast of Bali-open to the sheltered waters of the Java Sea, and bordering on most of the other regencies. Archaic types of social organization and antiquities are found in many villages that are mentioned in inscriptions dating from the 10th century onward. The inscriptions also tell of pirate raids.

Through out it's history Buleleng has been more open than others in Bali to the influence of the maritime world of the Indonesian Archipelago and beyond. A province before and after Majapahit conquest it rose to prominence at the end of the 16th century under Raja Panji Sakti, who added the conquest of the eastern tip of Java to his other successes.. In 1 604 he built a new palace called Singaraja on fields where men grew the grain known as buleleng. Buleleng, gradually came to refer to the whole northern coast. The official day of Singaraja's foundation is 30 March 1 604, and each year a festival is held to commemorate it.

In 1814 a British military expedition stayed several months in Singaraja when Raffles was governor-general. The British went, but the Dutch came, at first with demands and later bearing arms, accusing the rajas of raiding wrecked ships. The first attempts of the Dutch ended in defeat or stalemate. In 1 849 a reinforced expedition captured the Buleleng stronghold of Jagaraga, after a fierce weeklong battle. In 1 882 the Dutch imposed direct colonial rule upon Buleleng and Jembrana. Singaraja became their capital and chief port and remained the seat of the colonial Indonesian government for the old Nusa Tenggara province (the Lesser Sunda Islands) until 1953.

Longer exposed to European influence than other parts of Bali, Singaraja has often been in the forefront of changes in the arts, fashion (wearing the kebaya began here), and political and social movements.

As an important shipping center, Singaraja has a cosmopolitan flavor about it. The population of 15,000 comprises many ethnic and religious groups. It is not unusual to see an Islamic procession pass before a Chinese temple flanked by office buildings of European design. Residential sections of the town are named after such immigrant groups as the Bugis of Sulawesi, the Javanese and the Chinese. After the bustle of Denpasar, Singaraja seems subdued, no longer a leader amongst Balinese towns. A legacy from Dutch times, however, is its continuing importance as an educational center. The city also houses a historical library, the gedong Kirtya, which is the storehouse of Balinese manuscripts, totally about 3,000. Lontar books-leaves of the lontar palm cut in strips and preserved between two pieces of precious wood-!-contain literature, mythology, historical chronicles and religious treatises, some works relatively new, others almost a millennium old. Miniature pictures, incised on the leaves with an iron stylus, are masterpieces in the art of illustration. Prasastis, metal plates inscribed with royal edicts of the early Pejeng-Bedulu dynasty, are among the earliest written documents found in Bali.

Buleleng is the island's chief coffee growing area. Freighters anchored off the harbor load this cargo for export to Europe and the Orient. The climate here is drier than in the south. Rather than rice, the fields yield Indian corn, oranges and crops of dry agriculture. The following temples of North Bali are located near Singaraja. If there is time, a pleasant drive further east between stately colonnades of trees leads to Yeh Sanih, a shimmering pool of blue green, flowing from underground springs. The clear waters have been enclosed to make a most refreshing place to swim. All along the northern shore are sea temples.

Sakenan Temple

The sakenan temple is dang Kahyangan Temple which located in island it called Serangan Island. Serangan Island has large land more less 1.119 Km2 which located at the top of south east of Bali Island which means the District Administrative Area of Serangan, Sub District of South Denpasar, Denpasar Municipal Region Level II.

To active Sakenan Temple from Denpasar to south with 8,5 Km we will arrive boat Pirelli, and we see through crock of mangrove for 30 minutes. In crossing through mangrove we will see the Benoa Harbor on the West Side, On the East Side we can see Nusa Penida Island which means the Administrative Area of Klungkung Regency.

This temple divided into two parts, which surrounded by restricted brick are Masceti Temple on the East Side and Sakenan Temple on the West Side.

The kind of sacral small temple which located in the Masceti Temple are most of Padarman, and Sakenan Temple is only has one persada it called Persada Danghyang Dwijendra.

Serangan culture Village located at Serangan Temple includes Sub District of South Denpasar, Denpasar Municipality. This village has six parts of Banjar consists of four heads of village’s part, it under mainland and also there is not mountain.

On the south side of Serangan Island it called Tanjung Benoa Strait and the north of island spread out the ocean, in the East Side is called Badung Strait and West Side is ocean.

A side-trip southeast of Singaraja passes the small temple of Jagaraga whose reliefs portray: two smug Europeans in a model-T Ford suddenly taken unawares by an armed bandit (a robbery probably inspired by cowboy films), flying aces in one-propped aircraft plunging into the sea; and a Dutch steamer signaling an SOS upon being attacked by a crocodilian sea monster. Even the wicked Rangdas and fertility statues-a dazed mother buried under a pile of children-are skilfully hewn with a delightf ul sense of humor. This trip ends at Sawan, a village with a gong casting industry, a talented group of the bamboo gamelan anglung orchestra and a unique local market that takes place at night. Sculpture that draws on modern moljs is not entirely lacking in the south. On the Pura Dalem of Blahkiuh near Sangeh a relief depicts a Japanese shooting at an airplane, and a temple relief at Panarungan (Mengwi) inter prets the Japanese rape of Balinese girls.

By the fifties, the first cluster of bungalows was built as a small hotel. The villagers were amazed that someone would want to settle by the ocean, as beaches were traditionally shunned by the Balinese because of spirits. Yet Sanur continued to attract an international elite and today is a prominent luxury resort area in the Far East.

The Hotel Bali Beach, a Soekarno-era project, was opened in 1 966. While the Hotel Bali Beach expanded into a new wing and bungalows (called the Bali Seaside Cottage), more than 30 hotels opened their doors up and down the beach.

When the Hotel Bali Beach first opened, and even to this day, it was a source of wonder to the Balinese. They came from all over the island to set eyes upon what, to the modern world, were everyday matters-skyhigh rooms, running water, electricity and elevators. The Bali Hyatt and Sanur Beach are the next largest hotels. The building boom reached its peak for a PATA Conference in 1974 when hotels at Sanur alone provided about 1,600 rooms. A new, open highway now links Sanur to Denpasar and Nusa Dua. The volume of traffic to the Bukit Peninsula has increased since more luxury hotels opened at Nusa Dua resort in 1982.

A wise government regulation that forbids buildings taller than a coconut palm has allowed Sanur to retain much of its village character. The luxuriant vegetation soon covers building scars, and moss transforms a new stone wall. The regulation encouraged the growth of bungalow-style hotels based on the style hotels based on the Baiinese norm of many small buildings within the one-house compound. The hotels of Sanur are all comfortable and elegant. The bungalow-style hotels are popular with tourists who enjoy the peace of garden settings.

Built along the beach, the hotels of Sanur are ideal in the early morning, for the coast there faces the sun rising over Nusa Penida. On the clearest days, Lombok's Rinjani voicano floats distantly above its collar of clouds, with Baii's own Gunung Agung closer by. Elegant triangular sails of fishing prahus glide on the calm sea. These boats are called jukungs and there are many for hire for trips along the shore. At low tide, the waters recede leaving great swathes of sand and coral that stretch for hundreds of meters to the reef, It is then that villagers wander among tidepools to collect coral, which they burn nearby to make building lime. At night, fishermen wade by torchlight to catch shrimp and small bait. Sanur is famous, too, for its magic, because of the many B rahmana families that live there and its proximity to the sea. Its farmers are reputed to grow the most delicious rice in Bali, formerly reserved for the tables of kings.

It is easy to spend a day around Sanur: lazing by the pool-side, walking on the beach, or following paths through the surrounding hamlets, rice fields and coconut groves. You can take a look at the coral pyramid in the sea temple or the old pillar inscription at Belanjong. In the evening the choices are several. Relax on the beach (especially around the full moon) or on the porch of a bungalow. Wander down to the beach market and try the local food stalls. Watch a dance or drama (your hotel can tell you when they are on) Or if it is action you are looking for, there are night clubs at the three largest hotels

Every crevice of the temple proper is gaily carved in curves, flames, arabesques and spirals, cascading a light ebullience everywhere. A fine example of the northern style is Pura Beji in Sangsit, a subak temple dedicated to Dewi Sri, goddess of agriculture. Nagat snakes form the balustrade of the fine gateway.

Fantastic physiognomies of imaginary beasts and devilish guardians peer from the entangled flora, deliberately cocked at an angle to throw the facade slightly off balance. This dynamic asymmetry continues in the inner sanctuary. Jawless birds, fierce tigers and sunflowers project from every part of the pedestal.

Rows of stone towers jut up from the terraces, forming a labyrinth of pink sandstone. To counterbalance the overpowering decor, the courtyard is spacious and decorated with only a few frangipani trees.

The North Balinese sculptural style with its caricatural tendency is found on other temples in the area-besides on the temples mentioned at Sangsit, Jagaraga and Kubutambahan-for example, on temples at Bungkulan and Bebetin. As you drive along the north coast road, also keep your eyes open for wooden split drums or kulkuls which are carved with a human head on top. For some reason they are rarely found in South Bali. Examples may be seen at Bungkulan (the village past Sangsit), dt Kubutambahan, and the finest of all at Tejakula.

Rawana, the villainous giant of the Ramayana epic, could die neither on earth nor inair.Tokill him,themonkeygeneral Hanuman devised a plan to suffocate the giant by pressing him between two halves of the holy mountain Mahameru-a destruction between the earth and air. When Hanuman took Mahameru, part of the mountain feli to the earth in Sangeh, along with a group of his monkey armies. And so they stayed to this very day.

Such is the legendary origin of Bukit Sari, or The Monkey Forest, a cluster of towering trees and home of hundreds of sprite monkeys. The forest is sacred and for many years no one has been permitted to chop wood there. A moss-covered temple lies in the heart of the woods and is a familiar hideout for the nimble inhabitants. You make many friends b buying a bag of peanuts, and for such a east the monkeys often bring their families along.

Fulmar tells of a king of the monkeys who invariably has the first choice in selecting peanut handouts. He oversees one camp, while a rival king and his followers control another area of the forest. A beautiful restive place, Sangeh has long been an inspiration for painters and monkey-watchers.

The temple, Pura Bukit Sari, was originally built around the 17th century as an agricultural temple and has been restored several times, most recently in 1973. In the central courtyard, a large statue of Garuda, an old carving of uncertain date, symbolizes freedom from suffering and the attainment of amerta, the elixir of life. The forest of nutmeg trees in which it lies was presumably planted deliberately a long time ago, for it is unique in Bali.

There is a separate route linking Sangeh directly with Denpasar that begins at Jalan Kartini, making it a short trip. A side - road joins Blahkiuh, just south of Sangeh, with Mengwi which can also be reached by returning to Denpasar and taking the trip to the west. A sub-standard road links Sangeh with Ubud.

Several statues bear dates of the 1 lth century, another that of the 1 5th century. It is thought that this temple was the mountain sanctuary of the old Pejeng kingdom, just as Pura Besakih was the state mountain sanctuary for the later Gelgel dynasty. The clouds often wrap them selves around the high peak, but on clear day, the view from Penulisan en compasses half the island: from the crest of Mt.Bratan in West Bali to the Java Sea. This temple is the farthest point north on this tour, but one can continue north to Singaraja.

On the return trip south of Penelokan bearing right, you pass three villages striking in their uniformity. The identical rooftops and continuous high walls are seldom seen in the more relaxed organization of typical villages. Although such conformity could only come from old communities where individualism is still minimal, the true explanation for their construction is the eruptions of Gunung Agung and Mt. Batur in 1963.

Because the soil was poisoned by the volcanic ash, all occupants of this region had to be evacuated to emergency camps, set up all over the island. When the people resettled upon their land, they rebuilt their entire village at the same time. Thus all the buildings look alike.

You are now entering territories that were settled by the Bronze-iron Age, which began about 300 B.C. and continued well into-the, first millennium A.D. The great bronze drum figurines are still preserved in temples as sacred heirlooms, or have been found in the rice fields and entered private collections. From the 10th century till the Majapahit conquest in 1 343, this area was the heartland of the kingdom of Pejeng-Bedulu. Its kings issued decrees written on plates of bronze, from which scholars have been able to reconstruct the history of the kingdom. These inscriptions, found all over Bali, tell of village and state affairs. Both Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced, and priests served as advisers to the kings and as members of the royal court of justice. Many inscriptions describe the founding of monasteries within a village territory and the freeing of that village from certain state taxes to pay for the monasteries' up keep. The ruins of these monasteries survive to this day, many bearing relief cut into rock. Statues of gods and kings dating from these centuries are also of Pejeng, and various axes, jewelry and preserved in dozens of temples.

Formerly, the people of this area lived relatively unperturbed at the base of the holy volcano. In 1 91 7, Batur violently erupted destroying 65,000 homes, 2,500 temples and more than a thousand lives. Lava engulfed the village of Batur but miraculously stopped at the foot of the temple. The people took this as a good omen and continued to live there. In 1 926, a new eruption buried the entire ternpie except the highest shrine, dedicated to God in his manifestation as Dewi Danu, goddess of the lakes and waters. The villagers were then forced to resettle on the high cliffs overlooking Batur. They brought the surviving shrine with thgm and rebuilt the temple, now known as Pura Ulun Danu of Batur village.

First made known to the West in a book published as long ago as 1 705, it is the largest drum in the world to be cast as a single piece. Shaped like an hour glass and over 3 meters long, the drum is of a rare type, decorated with eight stylized heads. A stone mold for a similar found in Bali proves that a highly sophisticated technique of bronze casting was used in ancient Indonesia.

The old Balinese, however, tell a different each year instead of twelve. One night, one o the moons fell to the earth and was caught in a tree. It shone so brilliantly that it prevented the local thieves from their nocturnal depredations. The boldest among them determined to extinguish the light.

He climbed up the tree and urinated on it. The "moon" burst, killing the thief, and fell to the ground in the form of a drum, explaining why it is now broken at the base. The large stones lined in back of the pavilion are said to be fallen black stars. Besides in the Pura Penataran Sasih, which was the state temple of Pejeng, important antiquities are found in three other temples. Pura Kebo Edan (Crazy Buffalo) houses a giant statue 3.6 meters tall. In Pura Puser ing Jagat (Navel of the World) a remarkable stone vessel tells in carving the story of the Churning of the Ocean by the gods and demons to obtain the elixir of life. Two kilometers east of Pejeng is the old monastery of tale: once there were thirteen moons in the sky Goa Garba.

A perfectly shaped bay cradled in the hills, the harbor of Padangbai is the main port of all transit to the neighboring island of Lombok, with passenger and cargo vessels departing each morning. International shipping lines making stopovers in Bali anchor to the left of the bay; visitors and cargo are ferried to the pier. An area enclosed by white sand coves and turquoise sea, the small harbor town makes a good visit for yachtsmen sailing to Bali.

The history of this coastal village is connected with those eventful years that saw the deaths of Mahendradatta and Udayana at the beginning of the 1 1 th century. There lived at Padangbai at that time a priest of great stature, Kuturan by name, who was capable of rejecting the wishes of a king and is rememberdd for his reforms of village organization. Pura Silayukti at Padangbai is said to mark his residence. Continuing east,

the road passes through 'the beautiful area around Manggis, mountains on one side, the sea on the other

The most exciting event in Negara isthe bull races, a secular entertainment that began less than a century ago. Possibly it developed from the custom of carrying home the harvested rice by bullock cart, or it may have been introduced from Java or Madura wherethesport is strong.Bulls are carefully selected for strength and color, looked after and pampered, and never used for ploughing the fields.

Dressed up in silk banners with painted horns and enormous wooden bells (now usually replaced with metal bells), they parade before the scrowd of spectators. The course is a 2-kilometer stretch of road, and the teams are judged for speed and style. It is remarkable to see such ordinarily docile creatures thunder down to the finishing line at speeds up to 50 kilometers an hour.

The agile charioteers often drive standing up and twist the bulls' tails to give them spunk. For the fans, this regional sport of Jembrana is a great opportunity for gambling. A family that owns a winning bull gains much prestige, and, besides, the price will double. A little magic is believed to help. If you are fortunate enough to be in Bali during the bull racing season, usually between July and October, do not miss seeing them. Negara is the farthest point west cited in this trip. The road, however, continues around the island to Singaraja, through lonely regions of the northwest. The journey takes a full day, on the seldom-used roads. From this point, your tours may take you through Gilimanuk and by ferry to East Java, where breathtaking scenery awaits you.

In Bali, each social unit-of increasing size beginning with the family-possesses a temple wherein they worship deified ancestors. The family ancestors are worshipped in the house temple, the clan ancestors in the clan temple, the founders of a village in the Pura Puseh, and previously the ancestors of a royal dynasty were collectively worshipped by a kingdom in the state temples. State temples include mountain temples, sea temples, and those at the heart of the kingdom, such as Mengwi's Pura "Taman Ayun".

Among the rows of palinggihs, (shrines that serve as "sitting places" to receive visiting deities during temple feasts) is a bri-ck b4ilding facin,g east: the paibon, a royal ancestral altar. In the surrounding pavilions, priests recite prayers, village elders hold council, offerings are prepared, furniture and the temple's musical instruments are stored. For those interested in traditional woodcarving, the small doors of the shrines here are beautifully carved. The moat gives the impression of a sanctuary in the middle of a pond, explaining the name taman, "garden with a pond". The waters are a symbolic place of contact with the divine through widadaris, celestrial nymphs who bathe there.

Beyond the moat, the temple lies on slightly rising ground. The grassy expanse of the outermost courtyard, the fine array of merus and pavilions in the inner courtyard, and its well-kept appearance make it one of the most beautiful temples in Bali. Originally dating from 1634, Taman Ayun was restored and enlarged in 1937. On its festival day (odalan) hundreds of women file into the temple bearing colorful offerings, which they place together before the merus.

KINTAMANI

In scripts from the 10th century indicate that this high mountain district which takes its name from the ancient, windblown town at 1,500 meters-was the earliest known kingdom in Bali. Its small houses are constructed of wood and bamboo tiles to give warmth in the cold evenings of the highlands. Plentiful vegetables and fruits prosper in the damp climate. Like many of the old villages in Bali, the center of community affairs is the bale agung, the village assembly hall, where the elders of the desa authority meet once a month.

The dances of Kintamani are varieties of the Sanghyang trance dance, rarely performed in other parts of the island. Every third morning, the main street becomes a bazaar for all the surrounding villages. There are several small hotels for an overnight stay :while exploring the area. Not far north of town, a dirt road branches left down towards Lake Bratan, and to the village of Slulung with its interesting little, stepped pyramids.

The Bale Kambang, the Floating Pavilion, likewise decorated, was used by the attending royal family. Pan Semaris and Mangku Mura directed the present paintings in 1945. Two kilometers south, between Klungkung and Gelgel, lies the village of Kamasan, the present-day center of the Klungkung - style painters. Indeed that style is often called the Kamasan or wayang style, as it draws its main themes from Old Javanese literary classics. brought here only if they could not be settled Kamasan is also a famous center of gold and silver smithing. In the shops of Klungkung one buy modern and antique Klunkung-style paintings, carvings, silverwork and silks.

Each has a complex of monks'calls nearby. The candis however were not places of burial, but served as memorials to deified royalty. Short inscriptions on some of the candis have enabled archaeologists to attribute them to the end of the 1 1 th century, soon after the death of Anak Wungsu in about 1077. But the identity of the kings and royal spouses honored there has not been determined with certainty. One theory says the main group of five candis honored Udayana, his queen, his concubine, and his two sons, Marakata and Anak Wungsu. Another theory suggests they honored Anak Wungsu and his royal wives; Thegroup of fourcandis isthoughttoenshrine Anak Wungsu's concubines. The tenth candi honors a high state official.

Perhaps Anak Wungsu ordered the Gunung Kawi monuments sculpted at a place where he himself used to meditate. Similar though smaller rock-hewn candis and monks' cells have been discovered in other parts of this central heartland of the Pejeng kffigdom, several of them also on the River Pakrisan. By the suspension bridge at Campuan, Ubud, are a couple of cells. In th6se times the monastic tradition must have been strong.

A short distance from Bedulu stands the mysterious Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave. A fantastically carved entrance depicts entangling leaves, rocks, animals, ocean waves and demonic human shapes running from the gaping mouth which forms the entrance to the cave.

The monstrous Kala head that looms above the entrance seems to part the rock with her hands. Similarly decorated hermit cells are also found in Java. The large earrings indicate that the figure is that of a woman. The T-shaped interior of the rock-hewn cave contained niches which probably served as compartments for ascetics.

Recent excavations carried out in 1954 unearthed bathing places in front of the cave with six female figures, representing. nymphs or goddesses holding water spouts. An energetic clamber down rocks and rice terraces fifty meters behind the cave leads to the fragments of a fallen cliff face with the enshrining two ancient Buddha statues.

An old Javanese chronicle written in 1365, some twenty years after the Majapahit conquest of Bali, says that one of the two Buddhist bishops in Bali at that time had his hermitage at Gwa Gajah, the "elephant river", which probably alludes to the Petanu River which flows nearby in its deep gorge.

However, Goa Gajah dates back certainly to the 1 1 th century. Whether it was originally a Buddhist or Hindu hermitage cannot be answered with certainty, for there are both Hindu and Buddhist sculptures inside or outside the cave. Perhaps monks of both religions had hermitages close to one another. In pre-Majapahit Java and Bali, the two religions, both influenced by Tantric beliefs and practices, had begun to amalgamate into what is called the Siwa- Buddha cult. Buddhist practices and doctrines survive to this day amongst a small segment of the Brahmana broken bas-reliefs of stupas and a tiny cavern priests who are mostly found in East Bali.