Magnificent Pura Gunung Kawi, the remaining Megalith Culture

The Carved Cliff

Like Bali in Postcards

Exhausted by the adventurous journey in the Hidden Canyon, we drove to our hotel located in Tegalalang Village, Ubud District. A place famous with it's traditional ricefield terraces lanscape. I intentionally chosed the hotel in such location, coz I wanted to feel Bali like one in post card photograph. The green ricefield terraces all over the place, eventhough terraces like this can be found elsewhere in Java.

As we approached the hotel location, we didn't know that we would pass jungles and going up and down roads. It is almost dark, and we didn't see any houses or village in few kilometers after the road turn. Untill some houses or maybe hotels showed up in the middle of terraces and finally we found our hotel.

Green All Over again

Gunung Kawi Temple

We checked in to the hotel and freshing up in short time, coz we still have one destination ahead. The next destination would be another surprise for my two travelmates. I've been here many years ago, it's Called Pura Gunung Kawi, located in Tampaksiring, Gianyar, just around 1 km away from Indonesia's Presidential Palace in Bali.

Pura Gunung Kawi is an 11th-century temple and funerary complex in Tampaksiring north east of Ubud in Bali, Indonesia, that is spread across either side of the Pakerisan river.

We used Waze apps in order to get direction to the location, only that, I didn't know that there are two places bear similar name which are Pura Gunung Kawi and Pemandian Gunung Kawi. The second one is bathing pool for locals. We arrived at Pemandian Gunung Kawi, we thought we already reached the place, but I did not recognize any of scene on this location. I believed that it is not the right place, only that the Waze Apps showed the direction to this place.

So I re-searched and this time I put the name Pura Gunung Kawi, and it pointed to another location which were another 3 km away. So we drove again to reach the destination. Luckily, this time I know that we are in the right place, coz everything remains the same.

Once we parked the car, we still have to walk for another few hundreds meter to get tickets and Sarung to cover the lower part of our body. Then another walk through steps down to the temple.

In the middle of our way, we see another beautiful terraces as we continue and found that the steps built by cutting limestones down to the Pakerisan river. It is shown by the limestone walls on both side.

Heading further down, after a big square hole on the limestone served as gate, we saw beautiful garden with Pakerisan River in the middle, which connected to the other side by a bridge.

I showed to my friends a Large compound structures on the limestone wall. A unique and ancient look temple that are carved into some 7-metre-high (23 ft) sheltered niches of the sheer cliff face.

I say it's gigantic, known as Megalith monument which were built on 11-th century AD during King Anak Wungsu reign. Served as place of worship as well as King's funerary. There are 9 crafted structure 4 on the gate side and another 5 on the other side across the river.

Here we also find something like hidden rooms or sanctuaries on the side of the gigantic structure. It is said that those rooms were used as meditation place for the King and the royal family. Once we entered these rooms, a cold and silent athmosphere spread all over the place. It even has dark room with all Balinese Hinduism offerings to the Gods.

We moved arround and took some pictures, hoping that we would capture some appearing of entities from the other realm. But it didn't happen anyway.

As we came out from the meditation rooms, rain started to fall, so we had to stop in a small shelter that is a apart of the newly built temple nearby. It even adding the creep part of the place.

Once the rain getting slower, we moved back to the entrance gate and stopped for shelter for several times as the rain got heavier.

As the skies went darker, we were ready to head back to the hotel. But first, dinner on the road is a compulsary. Hunger we've become as we took such unforgetable journey with challenging yet adventurous destinations in Bali, Island of paradise. Hope I will come again to this lovely Island to explore more cool destinations.