Ubud

Ubud
Other transcription(s)
•  Balinese	ᬳᬸᬩᬸᬤ᭄ (Hubut)
Monkey Forest Street in Ubud
Ubud Location in Bali
Coordinates: 8°30′24.75″S115°15′44.49″E / 8.5068750°S 115.2623583°E / -8.5068750; 115.2623583
Country	Indonesia
Province	Bali
Regency	Gianyar
Area
• Total	42.38 km2 (16.36 sq mi)
Population  (2020 Census)
• Total	74,800
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
	[1]
Time zone	UTC+08

Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, it has developed a large tourism industry. ^[2] It forms a northern part of the Greater Denpasar metropolitan area (known as Sarbagita).

Contents

• History
• Streets
• Buildings
• Transportation
• Economy
• Culture
• Climate
• Administration
• Nature
• Notes
• References
• External links

Ubud is an administrative district ( kecamatan ) with a population of 74,800 (as of the 2020 Census) ^[1] in an area of 42.38 km². The central area of Ubud desa (village) has a population of 11,971 and an area of 6.76 km², ^[3] and receives more than three million foreign tourists each year. ^[4] The area surrounding the town is made up of farms, rice paddies, agroforestry plantations, and tourist accommodations. As of 2018, more tourists visited Ubud than Denpasar to the south. ^[5]

History

Eighth-century legend tells of a Javanese priest, Rsi Markandya, who meditated at the confluence of two rivers (an auspicious site for Hindus) at the Ubud locality of Campuhan. Here he founded the Gunung Lebah Temple on the valley floor, the site of which remains a pilgrim destination. ^[6]

The town was originally important as a source of medicinal herbs and plants; Ubud gets its name from the Balinese word ubad (medicine). ^[6]

In the late 19th century, Ubud became the seat of feudal lords who owed their allegiance to the king of Gianyar, at one time the most powerful of Bali's southern states. The lords were members of the Balinese Kshatriya caste of Suk and were significant supporters of the village's increasingly renowned arts scene. ^[6]

Antonio Blanco, a Spanish-American artist, lived in Ubud from 1952 until he died in 1999. ^[7] A new burst of creative energy came in the 1960s after the arrival of Dutch painter Arie Smit and the development of the Young Artists Movement. The Bali tourist boom since the late 1960s has seen much development in the town. ^[6]

In 2002, terrorist bombings caused a decline in tourism throughout Bali including Ubud. In response to this, a writer's festival was created, Ubud Writers and Readers Festival to help revive tourism, the island's main economic lifeline.

Streets

The main street is Jalan Raya Ubud (Jalan Raya means main road), which runs east–west through the center of town. Two long roads, Jalan Monkey Forest and Jalan Hanoman, extend south from Jalan Raya Ubud.

Buildings

Puri Saren Agung is a large palace located at the intersection of Monkey Forest and Raya Ubud roads. The residence of Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati (1910–1978), the last ruling monarch of Ubud, is still owned by the royal family. Dance performances and ceremonies are held in its courtyard. The palace was also one of Ubud's first hotels, opening its doors back in the 1930s.

Some Hindu temples exist, such as Pura Desa Ubud, which is the main temple, Pura Taman Saraswati, and Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal, the temple of death. The Gunung Kawi temple is the site of the royal tombs. Goa Gajah, also known as the Elephant Cave, is located in a steep valley just outside Ubud near the town of Bedulu.

The Moon of Pejeng, in nearby Pejeng, is the largest single-cast bronze kettle drum in the world, dating from circa 300BC. It is a popular destination for tourists interested in local culture.

Transportation

Like other towns popular with tourists in Bali, it is not permitted to order a metered taxi or ride-sharing service for pickup within Ubud. Instead, a taxi and price must be negotiated with a member of the local taxi cooperative. This protectionist system ensures the driver is from the local area, and also keeps the fares inflated to up to 10 times the rates available elsewhere. ^[8]

Economy

The economy of Ubud is highly reliant on tourism which focuses on shopping, resorts, museums, yoga, and zoos. There is a strong focus on sustainable economy regarding the retail industry in Ubud, ^[9] with many Bali-grown brands favoring materials and ingredients that would not cause much waste to the environment. From home and living amenities to tropical clothing brands, Ubud has quite a unique array of retail selections that have proven attractive to tourists from around the world.

One of the initiatives that have boosted Ubud as another popular tourist destination in recent years is the Ubud Food Festival (UFF). ^[10] Happening in less than a week every April, this festival brings fellow restaurateurs and restaurants in Ubud together to create either special menus or particular promotions that may not be available in other months.

In contrast to the tourist area in southern Bali, the Ubud area is less densely populated by locals. However, tourists far outnumber locals, with the Gianyar regency seeing 3,842,663 tourist arrivals in 2017 - 1.3 million alone visiting Ubud Monkey Forest. ^[11]

Culture

The town and area have some art museums, such as the Blanco Renaissance Museum, the Puri Lukisan Museum, the Neka Art Museum, and the Agung Rai Museum of Art. The Museum Rudana in Peliatan is nearby. Galleries promoting local and overseas crafts are abound, too, in Ubud. Some often hold exhibitions focused on stimulating a dialogue between both local and international artists, and less about selling artworks. One of the primary examples is BIASA ArtSpace, ^[12] founded by art enthusiast and fashion designer Susanna Perini.

The Tek Tok is a traditional Balinese dance that is accompanied by the musical sound of mouth 'Tek Tok' altogether with various combinations of body movement and other sounds. The story Draupadi Parwa told in the Tek Tok Dance tells a moral message, when a woman who embodies the values of patience, sacrifice, compassion, devotion, and holy sincerity is disrespected, then disasters and calamities will befall a kingdom or state. This story also conveys the message that truth, virtue, devotion, and genuine compassion will always be protected by God. The Tek Tok dance performance is held regularly at the Bali Culture Center (BCC) in Ubud four times a week. Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) is held every year, which is participated by writers and readers from all over the world.

Many Balinese dances are performed around Ubud including the Legong by the Peliatan Dance Group, the first troupe to travel abroad. ^[13]

Climate

Ubud has a tropical rainforest climate (Af).

Administration

Ubud kecamatan/district is made of up the following desa (villages): Kedewatan, Sayan, Singakerta, Peliatan, Mas, Lodtunduh, Petulu, and Ubud itself.

Nature

The Mandala Suci Wenara Wana ^[15] is known to Westerners as the Ubud Monkey Forest. The grounds contain an active temple and are located near the southern end of Monkey Forest Street. This protected area houses the Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal, and as of June 2017, approximately 750 crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) monkeys live there. ^{[16] [17]}

The Campuhan Ridge Walk is a hill in nearby Campuhan, from where one can see two rivers, Tukad Yeh Wos Kiwa, and Tukad Yeh Wos Tengen, merge. A one-meter wide paved-block track runs about two kilometers to the top of the hill which is a popular spot to watch the sunset. ^[18]

Goa Gajah: Also known as the Elephant Cave, Goa Gajah is an archaeological site with intricate carvings and a tranquil meditation cave. ^[19]

Notes

Related Research Articles

Bali is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller offshore islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan to the southeast. The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second-largest, after Makassar, in Eastern Indonesia. Denpasar metropolitan area is the extended metropolitan area around Denpasar. The upland town of Ubud in Greater Denpasar is considered Bali's cultural centre. The province is Indonesia's main tourist destination, with a significant rise in tourism since the 1980s, and becoming an Indonesian area of overtourism. Tourism-related business makes up 80% of the Bali economy.

Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the main gateway to the Bali island, the city is also a hub for other cities in the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Klungkung Regency is the smallest regency (kabupaten) in the island province of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 315 km² and had a population at the 2010 Census of 170,543 which increased to 206,925 at the Census of 2020; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 214,012. The administrative centre for the regency is in the town of Semarapura.

Gianyar is a regency (kabupaten) in the Indonesian province and island of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 368.0 km² and had a population of 469,777 at the 2010 Census, and 515,344 at the 2020 Census, making it the second most densely populated district in Bali ; the official estimate as of mid-2022 was 523,973 - comprising 262,708 males and 261,264 females. Its regency seat is the town of Gianyar. The civil registry survey of April 2011 listed 480,447 people, of which 469,929 were classified as Hindu.

Balinese art is an art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 14th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kamasan, Klungkung, was the centre of classical Balinese art. During the first part of the twentieth century, new varieties of Balinese art developed. Since the late twentieth century, Ubud and its neighboring villages established a reputation as the center of Balinese art.

Nyoman Rudana is a former member of the Regional Representatives Council of Indonesia. He is also the founder and owner of Museum Rudana, Rudana Fine Art Gallery and Genta Fine Art Gallery, and founder of artist support organizations in Ubud, Bali.

Mandala Suci Wenara Wana, also known as Ubud Monkey Forest, is a sanctuary located in Padangtegal, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

Gelgel is a village (desa) in the regency (kabupaten) of Klungkung, on Bali, Indonesia. The village, near the coast four kilometers south of the regency capital Semarapura, contains some structures of cultural interest and is known for its pottery and handwoven ceremonial songket cloth.

Batuan is a village in Bali, Indonesia. It is noted for its artwork and style of painting which originated in the village in the 1930s and has since emerged into a major Balinese artistic style, known as a Batuan painting. It is a major painting center and contains a number of art galleries and cooperative art societies which have played a key role in promoting the art of Batuan. The village is also known for its performance of the ancient Gambuh dance, performed every Full Moon day.

Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal, or Padangtegal Great Temple of Death, is one of three Hindu temples making up a temple complex located in the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary – commonly called the "Ubud Monkey Forest" – of Padangtegal, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

Tirta Empul temple is a Hindu Balinese water temple located near the town of Tampaksiring, Bali, Indonesia. The temple compound consists of a petirtaan or bathing structure, famous for its holy spring water, where Balinese Hindus go to for a ritual purification called Melukat. The temple pond has a spring which gives out fresh water regularly, which Balinese Hindus consider to be holy or amritha. Tirta Empul which means holy spring that arises from the ground.

A Pura is a Balinese Hindu temple and the place of worship for adherents of Balinese Hinduism in Indonesia. Puras are built following rules, style, guidance, and rituals found in Balinese architecture. Most puras are found on the island of Bali, where Hinduism is the predominant religion; however many puras exist in other parts of Indonesia where significant numbers of Balinese people reside. Mother Temple of Besakih is the most important, largest, and holiest temple in Bali. Many Puras have been built in Bali, leading it to be titled "the Island of a Thousand Puras".

Canggu is a coastal village with a 10 km-long beach on the south-west coast of Bali, Indonesia.

The Kingdomship of Bali was a series of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms that once ruled some parts of the volcanic island of Bali, in Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. With a history of native Balinese kingship spanning from the early 10th to early 20th centuries, Balinese kingdoms demonstrated sophisticated Balinese court culture where native elements of spirit and ancestral reverence combined with Hindu influences—adopted from India through ancient Java intermediary—flourished, enriched and shaped Balinese culture.

The Ubud Palace, officially Puri Saren Agung, is a historical building complex situated in Ubud, Gianyar Regency of Bali, Indonesia.

A wantilan is a Balinese pavilion (bale) used for activities involving large crowds. A wantilan is the largest type of bale in Balinese architecture. A wantilan is basically a large wall-less hall placed under a large multi-tiered roof. A wantilan as a public building is usually located at a village's main square or main junction and functions as an open hall to hold large community activities such as meeting halls or a public musical gamelan performance. A wantilan is also a religious building, an integral part of Balinese temples used to hold the Balinese cockfighting ceremony.

Pura Kehen is a Balinese Hindu temple located in Cempaga, Bangli Regency, Bali. The temple is set on the foot of a wooded hill, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the town center. Established at least in the 13th-century, Pura Kehen was the royal temple of the Bangli Kingdom, now the Regency of Bangli.

Pura Maospahit is a Balinese Hindu temple or pura located in Denpasar, Bali. The pura is known for its bare red brick architecture, reminiscent of the architecture of the 13th-century Majapahit Kingdom, hence the name. Pura Maospahit is the only pura in Bali which was built using a concept known as Panca Mandala where the most sacred area is situated at the center instead of at the direction of the mountain.

Barong dance is a style of traditional Balinese from Bali, Indonesia. The dance demonstrates about the mythological depiction of animals that have supernatural powers and the ability to protect humans. Barong is the king of the spirits, leader of the hosts of good, and the enemy of Rangda, the demon queen and mother of all spirit guarders in the mythological traditions of Bali. The Barong dance featured a battle between Barong and Rangda to represent the eternal battle between good and evil.

References

• Picard, Kunang Helmi (1995) Artifacts and Early Foreign Influences. From Oey, Eric, ed. (1995). Bali. Singapore: Periplus Editions. pp. 130–133. ISBN   962-593-028-0.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ubud .

External links

• Ubud website
• Weather station in Ubud

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ubud .