Baru di Bali

We drove the coastal road of Bypass Ida Bagus Mantra in a rainy January day, when the apparently not so good weather was somewhat still acting gentle by allowing us to have, at least, a blurry view of Nusa Penida on our right side. The drizzling sky of Bali’s eastern division accompanied and greeted our way in as we entered one of regions in the island that, unfortunately, doesn’t receive many visits from the tourists: Klungkung.

The fact that Klungkung bears an important part in history and culture of Bali, it is strange to learn that this place is far from the number of crowd one could always expect in Kuta and/or Ubud; especially because for around 200 years back in the 1300s Klungkung was the base of the ruler of the island. That means, this region is the home of many historical bits and pieces left for today’s world to see.

As an instance is the Hall of Justice (Kerta Gosa) that was built in the mid of the 18th century and is now still standing in the center of Klungkung Town. This court hall is built in the middle of a pond and particularly known for its magnificent ceiling paintings. The paintings themselves are depicting heaven, which will reward those who obey the law and order in their lives, and the horrors and punishments that await the sinners. In the center of the hall are a rectangular table and six chairs for three judges, who were priests, and three assessors.

Just across the Kerta Gosa, on the other side of the road, stands erected the monument of Puputan Klungkung (Klungkung Battle), an event when the ruler together with hundreds of his men were marching down the street and killed themselves rather than surrender to the foreign power. The monument itself is the phallic symbol (penis) to describe the power of the ruler before the Dutch occupancy and also his manliness due to the many wives he had.

We also visited Kamasan Village, a home of painters and gold and silver smiths, which is known for its gold and silver crafting, bullet shell engraving, coins and traditional puppets painting. Artistic results of the skillful villagers of Kamasan are used not only for religious and ceremonial purposes, but also as fine products that are exported overseas.

Away a little bit southern, we dropped by at an old dynasty named Gelgel. Gelgel is an interesting part of Klungkung mainly due to its history as Bali’s center of arts in the early 1500s. During that time, Bali received an influx of the neighboring Javanese artisans and members of the royal court. As of today, Gelgel hosts one of the most important Hindu temples in the island, Pura Dasar Bhuana. As a temple dedicated to all of the Hindus in Bali, Dasar Bhuana is very crowded particularly during big Holidays such as Galungan.

Our next stop is the village of Unda River. Obviously, the name of the village is taken from the great expanse of the stony Unda River that surrounds a number of villages at flood times. The river is easily recognized for as you stroll down the Bypass Ida Bagus Mantra heading to Padang Bai, it runs on the bottom of the last, longest bridge. However, we stopped at another point of the river, from where we could see the villagers doing their activities – like traditionally taking sand from the bottom of the river using only simple hand tools.

The traditional Bali is very much felt in this part of Klungkung, for many of villagers still use the river to bathe, wash their clothes or simply to just relax on the sides. The people are also friendly that a family in the village opened the doors of their house wide for us and served us the Balinese coffee and palm wine (tuak). The son in-law of the family was adequately telling us about the quiet pace of life in the area; and that Klungkung’s fishing villages and hillside communities that were barely accessible by road are now a little bit disturbed by the pace of the 20th century.

The hospitality of this family together with the other villagers made us, as strangers, felt like being at home. The presence of all the family members in welcoming us in their home, which again made us felt so important, was a living proof that the warmth and friendly manners of Balinese people remain untouched.