DENPASAR REGENCY
Denpasar Regency is the youngest
city in Bali, which is still only 14 years old since the day it
was given official status as a self-governing municipality on the
27th of February 1992. The positioning of Denpasar as a self-governing
municipality was a process after it was given the status of an administrative
city. From a historical point of view, Denpasar, which was originally
a part of the Badung regency, has played an important part in the
course of history, which leads to the present day. The war of the
Puputan Badung which took place on the 20th of September in 1906,
involved not only the family members of the palace, but also its
many followers, representing the feeling of pride of the Balinese
people in holding on to their respect.
With an area of approximately 127.80 km2, the city of Denpasar has
a population of 522,386, which is almost the same as the regency
of Badung. It is most densely populated area in Bali, with a population
of 4.088/km2. Denpasar, which started as the centre of the Kingdom
of Badung, has now developed into a city of trade.
Continuing from the times when the area was still was a part of
the regency of Badung, Denpasar has major area for tourist accommodation
facilities in Sanur. With the Grand Bali Beach on the north side,
and Sanur Beach hotel on the south. Sanur is lined with hotels,
restaurants, and various facilities for visitors.
In order to guide its development in entering the third millennium,
the city has proclaimed a slogan for Denpasar as a ‘Cultural
city’. Some locations within in the city, like the Puputan
Badung Square, the Badung River, other areas, have been appropriately
innovated to fulfill the norms of a cultural city. The ‘City
Tour’ is packet, which was also created to support and sustain
the quality of the locations mentioned above.
PLACES OF INTEREST
* Bali Museum
The Bali Museum was established in 1910 by the conquering Dutch,
who sought to collect and preserve artifacts they felt were disappearing
overseas or succumbing to the elements. In 1917, an eruption of
Gunung Batur and subsequent earthquakes destroyed hundreds of Denpasar's
buildings, including the museum. Rebuilt in 1925, it was used as
a storehouse for artifacts and temporary exhibits until 1932, when
it was established as an ethnographic museum. The German painter
Walter Spies helped assemble many of its original treasures from
private collections and donations.
The grand, well-kept complex consists of a series of attractive,
grassy courtyards containing all the archetypes of Balinese architecture—bale
agung, candi bentar, kulkul. The main structure, with its many pillars,
is built in the manner of Puri Kanginan in the eastern regency of
Karangasem. Standing next to it is a reproduction of Singaraja Palace
on the north coast. With rich ornamentation both inside and out,
the museum's architecture combines the two principal edifices of
Bali, the temple (pura) and the palace (puri).
The museum's four buildings contain a splendid collection of Balinese
art—Neolithic stone implements, a hoard of Buddhist clay seals
excavated near Pejeng, Balinese folk crafts, carved and painted
woodwork, cricket-fighting cages, dance costumes, textiles, masks,
weaving looms and fabrics, agricultural tools, musical instruments,
furniture, scale models of ceremonial events, ethnographic exhibits.
The first pavilion is a two-story building containing high-quality,
early traditional, Kamasan-style paintings; classical Balinese calendars;
modern Batuan and Ubud-style paintings; and work of the Academic
and Young Artists (or Naive) schools. Another pavilion displays
carved media—wood, stone, clay, and bone—including sculpted
windows, doors, pillars, ceiling beams, friezes, old guardian figures,
demons, and specimens of Bali's extraordinarily earthy and vigorous
folk art. The building, dedicated to prehistoric artifacts, displays
Bronze Age implements, including the famous Gilimanuk bronze spearhead,
the largest ever discovered in Southeast Asia. Also see ritual objects,
priestly accoutrements, and a veranda lined with old stone statues.
One building is devoted entirely to masks, weapons, and costumes
of the performing arts, including rare barong pig masks and primitive
dance masks from remote villages. There's also an incredible display
of topeng.
* Local Dinning Complex
A long Jl. Teuku Umar, which eventually joins Jl. Imam Bonjol, the
road to Kuta, is a location of well-established warung, rumah makan,
and restaurants serving Indonesian specialties at very reasonable
prices. The city's densest concentration of Indonesian-style eating
establishments.
Kumbasari Shopping Complex, just off Jl. Gajah Mada by the river.
Open 1800-2400. Dozens of stalls under plastic covers serve Chinese
noodle soups, fried rice, sate, excellent martabak, babi guling,
nasi campur, pangsit mie, chocolate donuts, and hot.Other pasar
malam include the Kereneng bus station (the Asoka Night Market),
serving excellent babi guling (only Rp 6000,-) and other native
dishes; opposite Tegal station (where you catch minivans to Kuta);
and on Jl. Diponegoro near the Kertha Wijaya Shopping Center. All
are good, cheap, entertaining night eateries that are so inexpensive
only a glutton could possibly spend more than Rp6000.
* Jagatnatha Temple
Just look to the east of the big alun-alun on Jl. Mayor Wishnu,
next to the museum, is a Hindu temple, Jagatnatha Temple, built
in 1953. In the afternoon, people from the surrounding kampung come
here to pray; the temple's especially busy during the full moon
that Wayang “shadow puppet” usually played in the evening.
On a towered throne of white coral sits a bright, gold statue of
Ida Batara Sanghyang Widhi in his typical pose. This is the supreme
god of Balinese Hinduism. The padmasana rests on the back of the
sacred turtle, clasped by two naga on plinths carved with scenes
from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. The central courtyard is surrounded
by a moat containing gigantic carp.
* Puputan Square
A great place for families to hang out in the evenings is the huge,
well-kept park in the middle of town, named for the bloody 1906
extermination of the island's ruling class by the Dutch. An heroic-style
monument facing Jl. Surapati commemorates this tragic event. Note
the woman with the kris in one hand and jewels in the other. Eyewitnesses
of the time reported that female members of the court tauntingly
flung their jewelry at the Dutch troops before being mowed down
by rifle fire.
On every side of Taman Puputan are the traditional symbols of the
power elite. North of the square is the Governor's Residence, built
in Javanese pendopo style. Facing the Bali Museum is the stolid,
modern military headquarters complex.
* Maospahit Temple
It is an important temple for its a unique and archaeologically,
located in a small alley in the middle of the city off Jl. Sutomo.
Enter through a door in the alley. This temple, one of the oldest
on Bali, has its origins in the great 14th- and 15th-century Javanese
Majapahit Empire when Hinduism was first introduced to Bali. The
massive statues of Batara Bayu and Garuda guard the split gateway.
On the imposing facade is a pantheon of carved demons and deities,
including Yama and Indra. Heavily damaged in the 1917 quake, the
earliest, now-restored buildings are in the back. Look for the terra-cotta
statues.
* Melanting temple
in the middle of Pasar Badung, is a market temple where vendors
make offerings on their way to their stalls.
* Pemecutan Palace (Puri Pemecutan)
Puri Pemecutan near Tegal bus station on the corner of Jl. Thamrin
and Jl. Hasannudin, built in 1907 to replace the original palace
of the raja destroyed by Dutch artillery. Pemecutan, which shares
the complex with Pemecutan Palace Hotel, houses old weapons and
a renowned gamelan mas which survived from the original puri. Don't
miss the handsome, four-tiered kulkul diagonally opposite the palace
with its eight small raksasa statues. Chinese porcelain plates decorate
the topmost tier.
* Sanur
Sanur area is the oldest tourism village in this area, where the
first five star rated hotel was built. Its know for its luxurious
and quiet area for tourists. It beautiful beaches and sun rise view
make Sanur becomes one of the popular tourist destination in this
world. Even you can see the memorable Le Mayur museum in its beach
side.
*Taman Budaya “The Art Center”
Also called Taman Werdi Budaya, the Art Center is on Jl. Nusa Indah
in Abiankapas, a suburb of Denpasar in the direction of Sanur, only
a 15-minute walk east of Kereneng station. Set in a restful garden
with lotus ponds amid richly carved baroque Balinese buildings,
the Taman Werdi Budaya houses exhibits of modern painting, masks,
and woodcarving. Both Balinese and Indonesian artists are featured.
You'll find a car park, museum, and small, fixed-price handicraft
shops.
Visitors can view dance and music rehearsals in two open-air amphitheaters
with modern lighting. Dances are also regularly staged for the public,
including works incorporating modern Balinese choreography. In the
kecak performance, staged each night 1830-1930, traditional flickering
oil lamps are still used. Eerie and powerful.
The Art Center also hosts a summer art festival each year from mid-June
to mid-July, with competitions for costumes, dance, drama, sendratari
performances, music, woodcarving, metalworking, and food. Every
year is different, with each of Bali's regencies sending its best
teams. Also see art events, crafts exhibits, and an extravagant
production of the Ramayana Ballet.
* Kumbasari Market
Stand up at Jalan Gajahmada, Pasar Kumbasari provide a range of
handicraft, gold work and fine fabric. Next of this market Pasar
Badung, selling everything from fruit and meat to clothes and textiles.
Pasar Badung is a market that provides for the locals’ needs.
This is definitely the place for bottom-line bargains.
* Pasar Burung Satria “Bird
Market”
Go straight from “Catur Muka” statue of Puputan square
about 300 meters on right side, there is a market sells an assortment
of beautiful birds and other animals which will surely leave you
both impressed and depressed.
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