Ubud

Ubud has become the favorite place for many visitors to Bali. The name Ubud is probably derived from "ubad" which means medicine ("obat" in Indonesian), and to come here is just medicine for people who look for a relaxed way of life and beautiful surroundings. Ubud is built on the slopes of the central mountains, and in addition to the town Ubud also includes several smaller villages like Peliatan, Padangtegal, Penestanan, Campuan and Pengosekan. It is located in the Gianyar district.

If you are interested in Balinese art and culture this is definitively the place to be, every evening there is dance performances and the area is full of art galleries and museums. Ubud actually became a popular spot for artists as early as the 1930's when the German painter Walter Spies and the Dutch artist Rudolf Bonnet founded the artist society "Pita Maha" here together with the local aristocrat Cokorda Sukawati. Works from this period can be studied in the Puri Lukisam Museum. The most famous artist from this period is probably I Gusti Nyoman Lempad who produced a large variety of arts, from paintings to woodcarving. He died in 1978 and supposedly became 121 years old, some of his works can be seen in the Neka Museum or at his home in Ubud. Of foreign artists who preferred to live in Ubud is Antonio Blanco maybe the most famous. Antonio Blanco was born on September 15, 1911, in Manila on the Philippines, both parents were Spanish. He moved to Bali in 1952 where he lived until his death in 1999, his home is now a museum. In addition to the museums already mentioned there are several others in Ubud that can be worth a visit.

There are many interesting temples in this area, some of the most special is located inside the holy monkey forest; Mandala Wisata Wanara Wana, in the Padangtegal village. You can hardly avoid it, the main road through Ubud passes by this large, green forest. Like other monkey forests on Bali this one is also populated by the Balinese Macaque monkeys (Macaca Fascicularis), about 125 monkeys now stay inside the forest, divided in three groups. It is very interesting to observe that these animals are more "civilized" than in places like Sangeh, but if provoked they can still bite. There has been done some research on the monkeys here, especially on behavior.

There are three temples inside the forest, probably built sometimes during the 14th century. The Pura Prajapati temple (temple of the dead) is dedicated for funerals and cremation ceremonies. Close by there is a Hindu graveyard used by the villagers of Padangtegal. A common custom is to bury the dead until the right day and/or enough funds are raised to hold a cremation ceremony, which is a major ritual on Bali. The ash from the dead is often placed in the river and led by the water to the sea. In Ubud they normally do this in Campuan, where two rivers meet. Pura Dalem Agung is the largest of the three and the main temple for the Padangtegal village. The third temple is the holy bathing temple, which is down a steep stairway along a river. It consists of three parts, Utama Mandala is the area of the gods, Madia Mandala is for the disciples of the gods and Nista Mandala which is the bathing place for the humans.