THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 228

The carvings that trumpet the entranceway to the hillside cave are impressive, if difficult
to distinguish. The doorway is a gaping mouth, framed by the upper jaw of a monstrous
rock-carved head that's thought to represent either the earth god Bhoma or the widow-witch
Rangda, or a hybrid of the two. It would have served both as a repeller of evil spirits and as
a suggestion that on entering you were being swallowed up into a holier world. Early visitors
interpreted it as an elephant's head, which is how the cave got its modern name.
Passing into the monster's mouth, you enter the dimly lit T-shaped cave , which served as
meditation cells or living quarters for the priests or ascetics. Legend describes how the myth-
ical giant Kebo Iwa gouged out the cells and the carvings here with his powerful fingernails
in just one night.
Outside the cave, in a small pavilion to the left of the gateway, is a weatherworn statue of a
woman surrounded by a horde of kids. This is the folk heroine Men Brayut , who has come
to epitomize a mother's struggle against poverty. Men Brayut is known as the goddess Hariti
in Buddhist literature, and this statue, along with several other relics found nearby, have led
archeologists to believe the site has a Buddhist as well as a Hindu history.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: GOA GAJAH
By bemo An Ubud-Gianyar bemo will drop you at the entrance.
By car The car park borders the main Ubud-Gianyar road.
On foot You can walk between Yeh Pulu and Goa Gajah through the ricefields, but you'll
need to hire a guide.
Yeh Pulu and around
East of Goa Gajah • Daily 7am-6pm • Rp15,000, children Rp7500, including sarong rental
The rock-cut panels amid the ricefields at Yeh Pulu are delightfully engaging, and the site is
often empty. Chipped away from a cliff face, the 25m-long series of carvings are said to date
back to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. They are thought by some historians to depict a
five-part story and while the meaning of this story has been lost, it's still possible to make out
some recurring characters and to speculate on the connections between them; local people,
however, simply describe the carvings as showing daily activities from times past.
The small spring after which the site is named ( yeh means “holy spring”, pulu “stone ves-
sel”) rises close by the statue of Ganesh that is carved into the final niche and is sacred -
hence the need for all visitors to wear temple dress. The Balinese believe that all water is a
gift from the spirits, so whenever the spring fails special ceremonies are required to restore a
harmonious flow.
Dukuh Kedongan
Guides can take you on the two-hour return ricefield walk from Yeh Pulu to the rice temple
Dukuh Kedongan , with the chance of a dip in the Petanu River (around Rp250,000); or