UBUD PALACE
The Ubud Palace, officially Puri Saren Agung, is a historical building complex situated
in Ubud, Gianyar Regency of Bali, Indonesia. The palace was the
official residence of the royal family of Ubud. It was on his travels that Rsi
Markaneya received a divine revelation that in Bali he was to bury five
precious metals on a mountain slope where the mother temple of Besakih now
stands today. Along with a group of followers, Rsi Markaneya was magnetically
attracted to a destination located in the central foothills of the island that
radiated light and energy. This place was Campuhan in Ubud at a junction in the
Wos River and it was here that he felt compelled to build a temple by the name
of Pura Gunung Lebah.
On subsequent expeditions around Bali, Rsi
Markaneya built a number of other significant temples and created a shared
irrigation system for the terraced landscape that is still practiced by farmers
today. The formation of the banjar, which is a village council responsible for
community and religious affairs, was also inspired by this holy man. In
essence, it can be said that Rsi Markaneya is responsible for the foundation of
Balinese Hinduism in its purest form referred to as Agama Tirta or the religion
of holy water.
Since being discovered backing the 8th century,
the area of Campuhan has always been highly regarded by the Balinese for its
immense spiritual powers. Even the term Ubud is derived from the term ubad,
meaning medicine in reference to the traditional healing properties of the array
of plants that randomly grow here. Generations of Hindu worshippers have made
special pilgrimages to the fork in the Wos River to mediate, bathe and collect
holy water for temple ceremonies and cleansing rituals.
There had always been ties between Java and
Bali, but it was the disintegration of the once mighty Majapahit kingdom in the
15th century that saw a mass exodus of nobles to Bali. A new kingdom on the
island's east coast called Gelgel was
consequently established and gave sanctuary to many important ruling families.
They brought with them an artistic legacy and the principles of the caste
system.
By the 17th century Bali invariably experienced
a rapid emergence of new kingdoms, including the founding of several royal
houses in Ubud. However, this period also saw much conflict between the royal
clans with supremacy as the ultimate goal. A prince from Klungkung was sent to
create a palace in Sukawati as a centre of great power and aesthetic beauty.
Artisans came from all over Bali to help in its construction and once completed
many of them chose to stay. Sukawati today is a community that strongly
supports all forms of artistry as well as dance and music.
With the successful establishment of a reigning
authority in Sukawati, palace retainers were then sent in the late 1700s to
secure the area of Ubud. A pair of cousins formed rival communities in Padang
Tegal and further north in the area of Taman. Following subsequent fighting
between these neighbouring villages the king of Sukawati sent his brothers
Tjokorde Ngurah Tabanan to Peliatan and Tjokorde Tangkeban to Sambahan to
establish palaces with the notion to control these troubled areas.
Despite early feudalistic struggles between the
kingdoms of Peliatan and Mengwi, the two overcame their differences following a
battle that is said to have involved magical powers. Thereafter, the people of
Mengwi moved to help populate Ubud and during the latter 1800's the entire area
began to flourish with plentiful rice supplies and a booming economy.
By the middle of the 19th century there was a
certain anti-Dutch sentiment brewing within the kingdoms and conflict was still
rife. Mengwi experienced a bitter defeat and all land was distributed between
its aggressors. Several of the battles that took place were actually fuelled by
the Dutch and it was an unusual time that saw opposing kingdoms suddenly form
alliances.
The colonizing Dutch authorities chose to start
interfering with the island's politics at the beginning of the 20th century.
Under the leadership of Tjokorde Gede Raka Sukawati, Ubud came to be known as a
sub-regency and then much later in 1981 became a sub-district taking over the
administration of 13 neighbourhoods and 7 traditional villages. The district of
Ubud today encompasses all areas within the boundaries of Tegallalang,
Peliatan, Mas and Kedewatan.
Bali saw a significant influx of overseas
visitors during the 1930s.This first wave of tourism was focused in and around
Ubud due to the business confidence of Tjokorde Gede Agung Sukawati who was
proficient in English and Dutch. He had established a small guest house and his
older brother Tjokorde Raka Sukawati, who lived across the street, took the
initiative to welcome the celebrated artist cum composer Walter Spies to Ubud to
live and work.
This set a trend for other foreign artists and
soon the likes of Rudolf
Bonnet and Willem Hofker arrived
to set up easel and paint. As word of Ubud and its enchanting beauty spread,
the village went on to host a circle of famous faces such as Noël Coward, Charlie Chaplin, H.G Wells and the recognized
anthropologist Margaret
Mead.
The vision to establish a painters association
was born in 1936 and saw a collaboration to form the Pita Maha between Tjokorde
Gede Agung, Spies, Bonnet and several local artists. With the help of the
American composer Colin McPhee, who had built a home along the stunning Sayan
Ridge, the group was responsible for bringing together some of Bali's greatest
artists to teach painting, dance and music to a younger generation. Ubud
developed the reputation as being the cultural pulse of Bali and that image
still stands today.
World War II brought hardship to the island and
Ubud suffered considerably. The Japanese invaded and this was later followed by
a violent struggle against the Dutch for independence. Indonesian people gained
its freedom and its first president in 1945, but some 20 years later a
so-called 'communist coup' saw thousands of murders across the archipelago.
Many lives were stolen, especially in Ubud and it is local folk lore that the
white egrets inhabiting the area of Petulu are actually the lost souls of those
who were massacred.
After almost 20 years of uncertainty, tourism
resumed in Ubud during the 1970s when backpackers and hippies set out to seek
new experiences. A steady flow of visitors have since found themselves
captivated by the intense beauty of the landscape and gracious hospitality of
its people. Ubud has managed to embrace the 21st century with dignity and still
retain its timeless artistry, culture and religion. It is a significant
destination blessed with a strong sense of community and rare spiritual energy.
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