Gajah Cave

Goa Gajah, literally means 'Elephant Cave”. Although named by 'elephant' it doesn't mean there is any real elephant live or ever live here. The name Goa Gajah derived from 'Lawa Gajah', which is mentioned in the manuscripts that found in this site. This temple complex was built for the first time around 11 century based on epigraph found in this site.

A seven-meters deep cave with a shape of T-letter is the major attraction of this Bedulu village's local temple.

The cave it self is carved in a solid stone hill of the river valley. The main figure of the carving at the cave entrance is 'boma', a barong face, accompanied with big clapping fingers on its side. Leaf, flower, and some horror figures can be noticed if we give more attention look to the rest of the carving. Some holes that are considered to be used as meditation or sleeping quarters can be found in the wall of the cave. Nowadays, those holes are used to place offerings whenever there is ceremonies taking place. On the left end side of the cave is Ganesha statue, believe it as 'the God of knowledge'. Meanwhile on the right end side can be found three 'linggas', that each of them dedicated to the three common God manifestations in Bali, Brahma, Wisnu, and Siwa. There are other three stone carvings in the centre wall, one of them figuring head and face.

Three other statues of Ganesha, demons and Men Brayut, a legendary lady with her beloved children, are placed on a high building located on the left side of cave entrance. It is considered that these statues are 1000 years old. In the middle of the complex, in front of the cave, there is bathing place that is not any longer used by the local people. The angle figures within the bathing complex are about similar to common figures found in India. On the south part of the complex, there are along flight of step leads down the lower part of the valley. After crossing a bridge above a small creek and follow another flight of steps up to eastern side of the valley, a headless sitting Buddha statue can be seen. This is the evident of a close relationship between the two religions.

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Bedugul

Bedugul is the name of both a small city and a mountain-lake resort area, which Balinese have long used for weekend retreats. Bedugul is located on the main north-south road between Denpasar and Singaraja in cool damp mountain country, an excellent base for walking trips around the lakes and surrounding hills. Bedugul is located in a high plateau at the center of the Island.

Cool air and mists are natural for the place. Bedugul is a resort in Bratan Mountains, famous for its golf course; and also the Ulun Danu. Ulu Danu is an amazing temple, which seems to have risen out of Bratan Lake 1,200metres above sea level. There are many water sports available here are boating, water skiing, and parasailing. When the heat and humidity are get, why not escape to Bedugul. Bali's highland retreat has tucked into the crater of an extinct volcano 1400 meters above sea level. Bedugul is known for the quality of its fruit, vegetables and flowers. There are several places to stay near the lake and there is also an interesting temple, botanical gardens, an excellent golf course and a variety of activities on Lake Bratan itself.

Bedugul is a favorite place for Balinese family for weekend picnic. Bedugul is also a center of horticulture. We'll find plenty of fruits and vegetables here. Here we find 3 of Bali 4 lakes, Bratan, Buyan, and Tamblingan. Bratan, the largest of the three is perfect place for water sports such as para sailing, motor boating, jet skiing, water skiing, canoeing, etc. Bedugul fertile soil also produced abundance of plants and trees, some of them formed rain forests with their exotic birds, monkeys, and other creatures.

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Pura Luhur Uluwatu ( Uluwatu Temple)

Pura Luhur Uluwatu sits 600 feet above the sea on the peninsula of the Bukit and is one of Bali’s most spectacular temples, most often visited at sunset as it is one of the most photographed cliff temples on the island. The temple is about 20 km from Denpasar, but everyone will know where it is so you will have no difficulty getting there. The inner sanctum of the temple is magnificently perched on the edge of a step cliff that towers above the powerful wave below. The best views from the temple are from the northern and southern sides. There are many sign posted cautioning tourists to beware of the monkeys, instructing visitors to take off their sunglasses, hide their cameras and pocket their jewelry.

These signs are there for a very good reason, as occasionally the monkeys do get aggressive and there have haven even been suggestions of collusion between the thieving monkeys and the Balinese “finders” who offer to retrieve your possessions – for a finder’s fee of course. Uluwatu is one of the six most important Sad Kahyangan temples in Bali. It is believed that is location on the most south-western point of the island serves to guard the Balinese from the evil spirits of the ocean.

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OLEG TAMBULILINGAN ,A DANCE OF LOVE (a Balinese Dance).

In 1952, I Ketut Maria, a dance maestro from Tabanan regency, Bali, created a dance that is full with the spirit of love. It was John Coast who proposed him to create a new dance since he wanted to take Indonesian artists to Europe and the United State of America for a cultural exchange mission. At the time I Ketut Maria, famously known as I Mario, was around 50 years old and he felt too old and unwell to create a new dance. But after some efforts by John Coast to persuade him, he finally took the challenge. He had already taken some new inspiration but he was stuck, and had almost given up when Coast gave him a collection of books about classic ballet complete with pictures. Those books were the source of the inspiration behind the lovely traditional Balinese dance that we can still see performed nowadays.
The dancers are male and female who perform smooth swaying dance routines. They carry our imagination to a garden where the flowers are blooming and the bees are enjoying their mealtime imbibing the flowers’ essence. The dancers are transformed into bees that are attracted to each other so the male bee is chasing female so on. Flirtation happens over a mealtime which ends up into a beautiful love story where they are finally caressing each other. The whole performance creates such an intense romantic atmosphere also shows that both sexes naturally need each other.
It’s only the routines that are beautiful but also the costumes. The female dancer is wrapped in Balinese traditional fabric called prada (material with gold printed pattern) and has a long transparent yet shiny scarf attached as her wings. The colors of the costume usually bright, a combination of green, rd and yellow and her head carries a massive mountain of golden flowers. The male dancer also wears same type of fabric but with a different way of wrapping. For the male, the end of specific length of fabric is left unwrapped, the Balinese call this kancut. On the head , he wears udeng, the Balinese traditional hat while he carries a prada fan and spins it effortlessly with his right hand.
It has been many years since the maestro created the dance, but Oleg Tambulilingan still has great popularity. The beauty of the dance has successfully charmed whoever has watched the performance over years. The simplicity of the routines, that blends nicely with some routines the Balinese classic dances. Janger and Legong Keraton, show the story the creator wanted to tell clearly. The routines and the colors of what the dancers wear are just simply impressive.

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