Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taman Gili
Jl Untung Surapati • Daily 8am-6pm • Rp12,000
Built around 1710, and largely destroyed by the fighting in 1908,
Taman Gili
, or “Island
Gardens”, is all that remains of the original
Semarapura palace
. It's an attractive complex of
lily ponds, pavilions and graceful statues, and its indisputable highlight is the superb painted
situ and was painted by artists from nearby Kamasan, probably in the early nineteenth cen-
tury. Despite its historical importance, the pavilion is open to the elements and located next
to the city's busiest junction so the pictures are not in prime condition, though they have un-
dergone several major restorations over the years.
Kerta Gosa
The
Kerta Gosa
is sometimes described as a criminal court, which adds poignancy to the
pictures of gruesome punishments on the ceiling, but it's more likely to have been a debat-
ing chamber. It has nine levels of paintings.
Level one
, nearest the floor, shows scenes from
an Indonesian version of the
Thousand and One Nights
, in which a girl, Tantri, weaves tales
night after night.
Levels two and three
illustrate the “Bhima Swarga” story (part of the Ma-
habharata epic), and the punishments meted out to souls in the afterlife, such as having your
intestines extracted through your anus for farting in public. Bhima is the aristocratic-looking
chap with moustache, tidy hair, a big club and a long nail on his right thumb.
Level four
shows the “Sang Garuda”, the story of the Garuda's search for
amerta
, the water of life.
Level
five
is the
palalindon
, predicting the effects of earthquakes on life and agriculture, while
levels six and seven
continue the “Bhima Swarga” story.
Level eight
is the “Swarga Roh”,
which details the rewards the godly will receive in heaven; unfortunately, it's so far above
your head that it's hard to see whether good behaviour is worth it.
Level nine
, the
lokapala
,
