The Island Bali has changed much during the last century and most of it during the last 50 years, since tourism has grown continuously. In the period 1945-1949 Resident Jan van Baal has to cooperate with the raja, the eleven traditional rulers. Their political and economic power has been abolished. All realms had their own temple, but for the Island as a whole the 'mother' temple of Besakih probably was the major sanctuary. It is located quite high in the mountains,backed in the north by Gunung Agung and looking to the south.
In mid-2018 a new major religious-cultural sanctuary has been opened, the 60 hectare vast GWK, Garuda Wishnu Kencana. It is a sculpture/image of the mythic bird of Garuda carryingthe God Wishnu. It is located on a hill in Nusa Dua, in the very dry Southern and peninsula, close to the airport of Bali. All (or at least most of the) expensive hotels are located in Nusa Dua.
During our last trip to Indonesia,7-29 October 2018, we first made a stop of 5 days in Bali and thefirst visit was to GWK as it is commonly called. GWK is in our perception a sanctuary suited to the new Bali, hotels of Nusa Dua, tourists. Many of the female visitors were wearing the Muslim veil. It has the character of entertainment that is since centuries also connected toplaces ofpilgrimage.
After the entrance (ticket office, shops, restaurants), there is a road uphill along a theatre (with performances of Barong, Kecak, other dances) and people then may enter the most sacred space of the large compound, with a place for prayer and grand statues of Garuda and Wishnu.
Above: one of the first pictures to be seen on the entrance road is of Rama and Sinta, while Rama is hunting a dear at the request of Sinta. Below is the formal entrance where the small GWK is places in the midst of a fountain. Behing, on the pillars are shown figures from the Ramayana like Wibisana and Kumbakarna, brothers of Ravana, the great opponent of Rama. Not much could be seen of the other incarnationof Vishnu, Krishna.
Transport here is mostly by walking or by small buses. Butone mayalso hire a Segway atthe price of IDR 60.000 (or some €4.00) per 15 minutes.
In ons closed section of the great compound one must the special religious attire, the yellow shawl. There is a small chaple where a priest (in white clothes) is available for leading a ceremony, as we saw from a distance. Inthis section also a quite big statue is Vishnu is places, along with a very big one for Garuda (and two eggs: I still have to search for the meaning of the two eggs). Another visitor took the picture of Paule and I in fron of the Vishnu statue.
The Garuda is carrying Lord Vushnua, who supports and care for the whole world. On top of the Garuda a human person can beseen, apparently for some repair. Visitors can enter the basement of the statue and take an escalator to the middle platforms. There is still much construction under way and we saw no people entering for the platforms inside the statue.
Walking back from the majorand central statue we came along the theatre where at that time no performance was going on (usually not much longer than 30 minutes). We could take some pictures of people dancing with the Barong.
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