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History
Gianyar town - district capital of Gianyar regency - located in the south eastern part of the regency. Gianyar is well known for it´s roasted babi guling (suckling pig). It is a large town that holds little of interest for the tourist. The temple of Pura Dalem just north of the town has fine examples of stone carvings and you may wish to visit some of the small weaving industries.
Batubulan
Stone carvings line the road, many are made on the premises however a few are also carved elsewhere. Many types of Balinese dances including trance dances are performed here for tourists. |
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Blahbatuh
Gaduh Temple houses the ancient, folklore, stone head of Kebo Iwa, a Balinese hero of the Majahapit era. |
Bedulu
This village houses the museum of archaeology, which exhibits pre-Hindu artifacts, stone carvings and old Chinese porcelain and the Samuan Tiga Temple, which stages an eleven day ceremony during the 10th full moon according to the Balinese calendar. |
Bona
A village dedicated to producing bamboo products. Said to be where the Kecak dance originated. |
Celuk
This village specializes in gold and silver works, producing all kind of jewellery and ornaments. The skills of the Celuk artisans are such that they can move effortlessly from their traditional art to highly decorative filigree ornamentation to the streamline geometrical shapes of today,creating contemporary pieces that are popular the world over.
The cottage industry has spread through the entire village, far beyond the rows of ornate art shop buidlings that front the main road, to the family compounds, where children work beside their elders, learning the skills of the art from a very young age. |
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Goa Gajah
Goa Gajah, or Elephant cave. An 11th century Buddhist meditations cave with a statue of Ganesh in the interior and other elaborate carvings. |
Gunung Kawi
A candi complex dating from the 11th century, in which the candis have been carved directly out of the rock. The surrounding area is very picturesque. Not as dramatic as the other nearby candis and caves are Garba Cave and Candi Krobokan, two 12th century monuments, worth visiting if just to get off the beaten track.
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Mas
Mas is the home of some of Bali´s most famous woodcarvers. The studio of Ida Bagus Tilem, master woodcarver, is a showroom of antique and modern woodcarving and he has a permanent exhibition of his own priceless sculptures that are timeless works of art. There are many home studios in the village, where one can watch artisans at work, bringing the specially chosen pieces of wood to life with skillful strokes of the chisel. |
Pejeng
Pejeng is home to the temple of Penataran Sasih or Temple of the Moon. It contains the famous bronze Moon Drum, said to be over 2000 years old. It is the largest, single cast, bronze drum in the world. Good examples of the 13th and 14th century stone carvings can be found at the nearby Pusering Jagat and Kebo Edan temples. |
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Sukawati
A market town selling all of Bali´s souvenirs in one location. It is also a market for the local Balinese looking to buy ceremonial articles. |
Tegallalang
Shops abound on either side of the road. Slightly north rice terraces abound and, at nearby Petulu, see white Herons return to nest as the sun goes down. |
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Tirta Empul
Since the 10th century Tirta Empul has been one o Bali´s holiets places. Balinese come to bath in the ancient pools as the waters has said to have curative powers. |
Ubud
Now the cultural and artistic centre of Bali and a blossoming tourist destination. Bali´s four art museums namely, ARMA, Neka, Puri Lukisan and Rudana are all located here. The surrounding hamlets are all worth visiting. Ubud has many traditional dance and music performances and a number of workshops and courses are available. Accomodation ranging from five star luxury boutique hotels right through to guesthouses abound. |
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Yeh Pulu
Close to the Elephant Cave are some 14th century bathing pools with interesting carvings. |
Batuan
Batuan is known for its dancing and the originality of its painters and wood-panel carvers. Batuan has long been a famous centre of arts. There are active Topeng, Legong and Gambuh dance troupes here, and many young foreigners come to Bali to study dance in this village. The carved wooden friezes are replicas of the detail found in stone temple walls, depicting scenes from the ancient. Mahabharata and Ramayana epics in exquisite detail. Several of Batuan´s best painters exhibit their work in Ubud´s Puri Lukisan and some have exhibited overseas. Few artists in Bali are so well traveled as Batuan´s Made Bali. |
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Teges
This village has two communities, Teges Kanginan, famous for its musicians and dancers, and Teges Kawan, a community of sculptors. The Teges Kanginan community have a large Seman Pegulingan orchestra, a Kebyar orchestra, a childrens gamelan and a Angklung bamboo ensemble. Their dancers are the primadonnas of the Balinese stage. The original Kecak dance was choreographed in this village. The wood carvers of Teges Kawan specialize in contemporary ornamental and functional carvings. They create replicas of trees, plants, flowers, ducks, fishes and fruits that makes interesting pieces of interiors. Each carving is painted in lifelike colors, so realistic they will confuse the casual observer. |
Pengosekan
This village became famous when Queen Elizabeth visited in 1974. Pengosekan has an active community of artists, with a studio near the main road, who work together under the guidance of Dewa Nyoman Batuan, who is himself an accomplished artist. The Pengosekan artists create attractive compostions and scenes from nature in pastel shades that delight the eye. They also have a group who carves furniture, trays, cupboards and other household utensils in shallow relief, to which the artists apply a delicate rendering of colour. |
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Nyuh Kuning
Past Pengosekan the road meanders through the rice fields to the sacred Monkey Forest just south of Ubud, where there is a secluded bathing place in a deep ravine bridged by the roots of a huge Banyan tree. Above the Monkey Forest is a forboding temple with striking sculptures of the evil witch Rangda, devourer of children, guarding the inner temple. The village of Nyuh Kuning is close by, yet another community of farmers who sculpt and paint in their spare time, creating statues of birds, frogs, fish and insects, and detailed canvas renderings of nature´s wonders. |
Campuhan
The meeting of two rivers, deep in the valley forms a narrow platform where the ancient temple Pura Gunung Lebah was built by the Hindu priest Rsi Markandeya in the 8th century. |
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Taro
Coffee plantations over the land around Taro and the classics Balinese architecture of the compounds are reminiscent of the Bali of the past. |
Sayan
For stunning views the village of Sayan is unsurpassed. The village backs onto ravine that drops far down into a deep valley carved byt the Ayung River. Over the past twenty years a number of foreigners have built holiday homes along the ridge, looking out over the spectacular view to the mountains of west Bali in the distance. |
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Payangan
The village of Payangan, just 12 kilometers past Ubud, is famous for its lychees, durian and pineapples. Just north of Payangan is a village called Tihingan with beautiful bamboo groves. This is a particularly beautiful part of Bali for countryside walks. |
Kedewatan
Behind the village of Kedewatan the ridge looks over the curving valley of the Ayung River and here are cottages and swimming pools, and even a small restaurant, perched of the ridgetop taking advantage of the splendid view. |
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Belega & Bona
Belega and Bona both have many bamboo furniture workshops and great deal of their work is for export. In Bona, women and children of all ages make delicate basketry cleverly women and dyed in bright colours. |
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