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Klungkung

The royal palace of the ancient capital

Of the ancient royal capital Klungkung there are two buildings which are the remains of Taman Gili the "Island Gardens", all that remains of the original Semarapura royal palace, destroyed by the Dutch in 1908 after the collective suicide of the whole royal family and its court, event marked by the Puputan Monument across the road from Taman Gili.
The superb painted ceiling the Kambang Bale, floating pavilion, and of the Kerta Gosa (xviii c.) are both examples of the classical Kamasan painting style. The special type of Kamasan painting is an art that originated from the sacred character of shadow puppet play (wayang) and have a high quality, both in terms of form and philosophy.
In the small museum there are some archeological finds, photos, musical instruments and masks. There is also a the temple with a covered gateway.
The Kerta Gosa pavilion was apparently the council chamber where the rajah would meet his advisors to debate the interests of the kingdom. It later assumed the function of court of justice. The traditional Balinese paintings over the whole interior surface of its roof are the only surviving examples of Kamasan painting in Bali.

Kambang Bale

floating pavilion

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The painted panels of Kerta Gosa are arranged in nine layers.
The bottom level shows the Tantri stories, an exposition of ethics with special commentary on the social and moral duties of leaders, particularly priests and kings.
The next three layers begin the story of 'Bima Swarga’, the second of the Pandawa brothers, an offshoot from the Mahabharata. It narrates how Bima has been sent to the realm of punishment, to seek out the souls of his step-parents, Pandu and Madri. These paintings have attracted the most attention from viewers, with their graphic depictions of punishments from the cycle of birth and rebirth. Bima eventually finds his parents boiling in a cauldron, which he tips over after defeating various demons as well as Yama, the God of the Underworld.
In the next two levels one level shows the "Sang Garuda", the story of the the mythical eagle Garuda on a mission to release his mother Winata from a curse, which he does by obtaining the elixir of life, the amerta, from the gods. Above the story of Garuda is an earthquake calendar, or Palindon, the Balinese astrological calendar, predicting the effects of earthquakes on life and agriculture.
The top three levels show Bima's struggle to release the souls of Pandu and Madri. He has carried them out of the realm of punishment, but their souls are still trapped in limbo. Thus, Bima has to journey to the place of the gods and fight them. He is defeated once, but this defeat threatens the whole world, so his father, the God of the Wind, Bayu, brings him back to life. After a second battle with the gods, Bima is successful, and Siwa, the most powerful god, gives him the liquid of life, which Bima then uses to elevate the souls of Pandu and Madri to heaven. In the highest level the heavens are shown as looking like the interiors of Balinese temples. Here Bima duty it is to turn parents into divine ancestors through carrying out the correct cremation and post-cremation rituals. The narrative of the Kerta Ghosa is an allegory of the highest ritual, the post-cremation ceremony by which royal ancestors becomes deities that bestow their blessings on the state.

Kerta Gosa

Kerta Gosa painting gruesome torture and the punishments of the sinful in the afterlife

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The Kambang Bale, rebuilt in 1940, was originally the royal guards' headquarters and used for royal tooth-filing ceremonies. The bale features another richly painted ceiling in the traditional Kamasan style.
The paintings of Kambang Bale are arranged in six rows:
Where the Kerta Ghosa included an earthquake calendar, here the first row shows a star calendar (Palelintangan),
the fifth row from the top shows the story of Pan and Men Brayut ('Mother and Father Brayut') and their 18 mischievous children with scenes from daily life, like cleaning the yard, cooking ceremonial dishes. Men Brayut is also associated to Buddhist Hariti goddess said to have evolved from an evil devouring children ogress until she converted to Buddhism and became protector goddess of children and a fertility.
The paintings of the uppermost levels show the story of Sutasona, the pious Buddhist prince, model of nonaggressive strength who voluntarily offers himself to Kala in place of one hundred kings. Here the eponymus hero purifies the world through sacrifiing himself to the dragon-snake.

Kambang Bale

Kambang Bale paintings

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- Balinese traditional landscape
- Religion in Bali
- Balinese Dance
- Balinese Temples

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