Kertha Gosa ceiling
Bima's journey through hell and heaven.
Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Juan Antonio Segal from Madrid, Spain — CC BY 2.0 · Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Kertha Gosa garden holds what remains of Puri Agung Semarapura, palace of the Dewa Agung, the kings of Klungkung, who ranked first among Bali's rajas as heirs to the Gelgel kingdom. Most of the palace was destroyed in 1908; the open hall of justice, the Bale Kambang pavilion in its lotus pond and the main gate survive beside a small museum. Dewa Agung Jambe I founded the court here after retaking Gelgel in 1686; the main gate bears a date corresponding to 1700. Kertha Gosa was the kingdom's high court, where Brahmin priests judged cases unresolved elsewhere on the island. In April 1908, as Dutch troops shelled the town, Dewa Agung Jambe II led his family and followers out in a puputan, a last stand to the death. Kertha Gosa's ceiling is a classic of the Kamasan wayang style, with flat figures drawn like shadow puppets. Its main cycle follows the hero Bima through hell and heaven to free the souls of his father Pandu and stepmother Madri; some punishment scenes are graphic. Bale Kambang's six painted tiers show the Balinese astrological calendar, the Men Brayut folk tale and the Sutasoma epic. The Semarajaya Museum, in a former Dutch school, holds royal relics and weapons from 1908. The complex stands at Semarapura's main crossroads, about 40 km north-east of Denpasar by road. Across the street rises the 28-metre Puputan Klungkung Monument. In a straight line, Goa Lawah, the bat cave temple, lies 7 km east and Besakih Temple 19 km north-north-east, making an easy East Bali day out.
Bima's journey through hell and heaven.
A painted pavilion in a lotus pond.
Royal relics in a former Dutch school.
Jalan Kenanga, central Semarapura, Klungkung
It is Puputan Klungkung Day, remembering the royal court's last stand in 1908, and since 1992 also the town's anniversary; the Semarajaya Museum and the Puputan monument were inaugurated on that day in 1992.
It belongs to the tradition of Kamasan, the painters' village that gave the style its name, about 1.3 km south of the hall in a straight line. The earliest written record of paintings here dates from 1842, and Kamasan masters repainted the ceiling several times in the 20th century.