Pura Goa Lawah (Balinese “Bat Cave Temple“) is a Balinese Hindu temple or a pura located in Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia. Pura Goa Lawah is often included among the Sad Kahyangan Jagad, or the “six sanctuaries of the world”, the six holiest places of worship on Bali. Pura Goa Lawah is noted for built around a cave opening which is inhabited by bats, hence its name, the Goa Lawah or “bat cave”. Pura Goa Lawah is located in the village of Pesinggahan, Klungkung Regency, Bali. The large complex of Pura Goa Lawah is located on the north side of Jalan Raya Goa Lawah main road, on the beach of Goa Lawah.
Pura Goa Lawah is sometimes included among the Sad Kahyangan Jagad, or the “six sanctuaries of the world”, the six holiest places of worship on Bali. According to Balinese beliefs, they are the pivotal points of the island and are meant to provide spiritual balance to Bali. The number of these most sacred sanctuaries always adds up six, but depending on the region, the specific temples that are listed may vary.
History. Pura Goa Lawah was established in the 11th century by Mpu Kuturan. Mpu Kuturan was one of the early priests who introduced Hinduism on Bali. The temple complex may start as the center of meditation for priests.
When the Dutch attacked the Klungkung kingdom of 1849 in the War of Kusamba, the temple was one of the key points during the war. The conflict in the War of Kusamba was between the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army led by Andreas Victor Michiels and the Klungkung kingdom led by Dewa Agung Istri Kanya.
Carving at Pura Goa Lawah The temple decoration evolves as time progress. In the early 20th-century, porcelain ceramic plates attached into the shrines and gates of Pura Goa Lawah are common. This treatment can still be found in other old temples in Bali such as Pura Kehen. Today, the porcelain ceramic plates decoration on the shrines and gates has been reduced.
Temple compound Bat temple ornaments inlaid with gold at Pura Goa Lawah. The compound of Pura Goa Lawah is built over a hilly outcrop. It is divided into three areas: the outer sanctum of the temple (jaba pisan or nistaning mandala), the middle sanctum (jaba tengah or madya mandala), and the inner main sanctum (jero or utamaning mandala).
The entrance to the temple complex is marked with a candi bentar gate. A bale kulkul (pavilion to keep a drum) is placed to the west of this entrance. Within the first courtyard of the temple, the outer sanctum or the jaba pisan, there are three pavilions (bale) located in three corners of the temple complex. One of the pavilions is the bale gong, where the gamelan set is kept for musical performance. Access to the middle sanctum or jaba tengah is located to the west of the outer sanctum.
Three paduraksa portals mark the entrance to the innermost sanctum of the temple (jero). The inner main sanctum consists of three meru towers, one of which is dedicated to Shiva. Several smaller shrines are nested into a cave, where hordes of nectar bats rest. The entrance to the mouth of the cave is marked with the candi bentar gates. Other shrines is a bale pavilion adorned with motifs of Naga Basuki flanking its steps. Naga Basuki is a primordial dragon who is believed to keep the balance of the cosmos.
All you need to know about Batubulan Village history, Barong Dance performance, Kecak Dance, Stone Carving Sculpture and local culture
Batubulan village has been known as a center for the art of sculpture and carving in Bali, whose name has been worldwide. This carving art by the artist of Batubulan village, Gianyar is so highly admired and in demand by foreign and domestic tourists. Not only being a center for producing various types of carvings and sculptures, Batubulan Village also offers other tourist attractions, which is a place for performing arts in Bali such as Barong Dance, Kecak Dance and Legong Dance at Barong Dance which are seen by many tourists.
The History The history of Batubulan Village apparently started from a story of a Great Prince Kalesan. He was the adopted son of the King of Badung who in his adulthood was given a gift by the king to build a palace for him in the middle of the forest. Well get the mandate, then he went with his followers to a forest area in the eastern part of the Badung Kingdom. But a strange thing happened when he and his followers arrived at the border of the forest, they saw a lump of glowing stone (batu) that looked like the moon (bulan). Well from that incident, finally the Great Prince Kalesan established a palace at the location of the place and named the area as Batubulan.
About Batu Bulan Batubulan Village stands on an area of approximately 6,422 km2 and administratively belongs to the Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency, Bali. Led by a Batubulan Village Head call Prebekel, for those of you who want to send letters to relatives or business relations, the Batubulan Postal Code is 80582. Batubulan Village itself is divided into three traditional sub villages (Desa Adat), namely Tegaltamu Traditional Village, Jero Kuta Traditional Village, and Dlod Tukad Traditional Village.
Each traditional village is further divided into several banjars which function to manage agricultural activities in their respective regions. Not only that, there are also several banjars in Batubulan, Gianyar, which function as places to stage various artistic attractions, such as Balinese dances such as the Kecak Dance and Barong Dance. Jambe Barong Dance Stage at Banjar Tegehe (in Dlod Tukad Traditional Village), Barong Dance at Puseh Temple of Banjar Denjalan (in Jero Kuta Traditional Village) and Sahadewa Barong and Kecak Dance at Pegambangan Village.
Interesting at Batu Bulan One of the uniqueness of this village is the skill of it’s citizens in mastering the art of carving and sculpting statues from generation to generation. It’s no wonder that along the Batubulan Village road in Sukawati, Gianyar, it’s easy to find various galleries or art shops, You can go in there, see and buy a collection of statues or other artistic works of art as Balinese souvenirs to display at home.
Right in the middle of Village there is huge Banyan Tree, foot ball field, Batubulan Palace, Bale Budaya (culture hall) and local government office building. The foot field and culture hall use for sports and art events (PORSENI Pekan Olahraga dan Seni) every year around August to celebrate Indonesian Independent Day 17th August. There were 6 sports competitions and 7 art competitions. Among them, football, badminton, volleyball, tug-of-war for men and women, table tennis, barong competition, Balinese song karaoke competition, baleganjur competition at Batubulan youth level.
Batubulan Village also has famous 3 arts college school including SMK Negeri 1 Sukawati, SMK Negeri 2 Sukawati (SMIK) and SMK Negeri 3 Sukawati (KOKAR). These 3 college school learning how to play orchestra (Balinese Gambelan), learning Balinese Dance, how to be painter, wood carver, stone carver, silver smith and other product handy crafts.
Barong Dance The Barong Dance is a type of traditional Balinese dance that is played by one to two people wearing costumes and masks of four legged animals. Then along with its development, Barong Dance is also manifested with two-legged animals. Barong dance is said to be an art that is part of the repertoire of pre-Hindu culture in Bali besides the Sanghyang dance. Both are religious and sacred in nature which were originally performed as a means of religious ceremonies. This dance depicts the battle between dharma (Virtue) and adharma (Ugliness). In this battle, the Barong dancers manifested virtue, meanwhile, the figure of Rangda, who looks creepy with two pointed fangs in his mouth, plays virtue. The famous one is Sahadewa Barong Stage located at Jalan SMKI, Pegambangan, Batubulan, the show starting from 9.00AM – 10.00AM.
kecak Dance The Kecak Dance is typically performed by about forty to eighty men wearing only loincloths; their upper bodies are left bare. They form concentric circles, in the middle of which is a traditional Balinese coconut oil lamp. First they move their bodies rhythmically to the left and to the right, chanting the words “chak ke-chak ke-chak ke-chak” continuously, in slow rhythm. Gradually the rhythm speeds up and by turns they lift their hands, trembling, into the air. The kecak dance is performed for dance-dramas and the story presented is taken from the Ramayana Hindu epic. The Kecak Dance perform every day at Sahadewa Barong only from 6.30PM – 7.30PM.
The street of Batu Bulan Batubulan village has been known as a center for the art of sculpture and carving in Bali, whose name has been worldwide. This carving art by the artist of local people from Batubulan village, Gianyar is so highly admired and in demand by foreign business tourists and domestic tourists. The street full with varieties stone carving located at Tegaltamu Village between Barong Dance Statue junction till up to Bali Bird Park. The stone carving made from sand stone the grey color, pualam stone the white one and lava stone the black one.
Buddha statues of various sizes are also in great demand by consumers from Japan, France, Germany and other European countries. Padas stone statues made of antique types are still entering the export market and even increased in number earlier this year. Stone statues in the form of various forms of animals such as frogs, horses, in addition to ancient humans, are widely used for decoration in gardens, guest rooms and workplaces.
Many statue perform as Dwarapala, the figure who guards the gate in the temple. Each of these statues is named Nandiswara which is located on the right (left of the gate) and Mahakala which is located on the left (right of the gate). The existence of both is associated with the power of Lord Shiva as one of the manifestations of God in Hinduism.
Interesting Place nearby Some other places located near Batubulan Village is Bali Bird park, Bali Zoo Park, Butterfly Park, Puseh Batuan Temple, Celuk Silver Village, Sukawati Art Market, Mas Village, Traditional Balinese House, Tegenungan waterfall, Denpasar City, Denpasar Traditional Market, Sanur Beach,
To visit Batubulan Village and these places above can reach by take Full Day Tours and Half Day Tours or combine with Adventure Tours.
If you are staying in Ubud will take about 30 minutes drive by car local Ubud Driver or motor bike and from Kuta area will take about a hour drive by car local Bali Driver or motor bike. There is no entrance ticket to explore Batubulan Village, except if you would like to watch Barong Dance or Kecak Dance.
